On the 29th, the People Power Party’s Association of Gyeonggi Province out-of-office branch chairs hosted an invited roundtable in the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly’s mid-size conference room with three gubernatorial primary contenders — Ham Jin-gyu, Yang Hyang-ja, and Lee Seong-bae.
Held under the slogan “Asking and answering together about Gyeonggi Province’s future,” the session was moderated by branch chair Yoon Yong-geun, with Lee Soo-jeong, chair of the Gyeonggi Suwon Jung branch, serving as a panelist. At the event, Ham said he filed his nomination on the first day but “the party leadership spoke as if there were no candidates.” He added, “I endured that humiliation, but I have never run a campaign relying on the party. I view this election as an opportunity to define our party’s identity, and I will win the general election.”
He named establishing a special northern Gyeonggi zone as a core pledge, proposed relocating the Paldang water source to convert the area into a tourism asset, and pledged to develop the Panmunjom area into an international industrial and financial city.
Yang said, “Some question my identity. When I was in the Democratic Party, my values did not align and I went through many ups and downs,” adding, “I will not take on work anyone can do. Even if a goal seems impossible, I will analyze Gyeonggi and present solutions to achieve it.”
Reiterating a pledge she mentioned at yesterday’s debate, she promoted a “GRDP 100 million KRW (approximately $75,000)” as a central promise and asked party members to consider who can decisively defeat candidate Chu.
Lee said, “If a new wave of youth politics reshapes Gyeonggi’s electoral map, it will transform the entire country.” He emphasized, “If I become the candidate, I will campaign across the province alongside our party’s candidates, working from the grassroots up—the way I learned politics from the ground.”
He proposed a three-pronged strategy to connect the province through clusters in semiconductors, smart automobiles, and biotechnology, and urged voters to help usher in an era of governors in their 40s.
Twenty-seven of the 45 out-of-office branch chairs in Gyeonggi attended the roundtable. Given the significance of this local election, the province’s branch chairs said they will form a joint campaign committee with six incumbent members of the National Assembly and actively participate in the gubernatorial and local municipality races.
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