Rep. Shin Jung-hoon, a Democratic Party of Korea candidate for the Gwangju-Jeonnam Integrated Special City mayoral primary, has intensified criticism of rival candidate Kim Young-rok and proposed a head-to-head public debate.
"His rebuttal obscures the essence with temporary indicators or shifts responsibility to the past," Shin wrote on his Facebook page on Monday. "Let's have an open public debate in front of the citizens to prove our conflicting claims."
"Governor Kim still touts the baseless 500 trillion won semiconductor investment," Shin said. "I'm well aware of the National AI Computing Center attraction, but data centers and the semiconductor industry are fundamentally different."
"Looking at Chuncheon's case, they attracted three major data centers including Naver, Samsung SDS, and Douzone Bizon, but the contribution to the local economy and job creation effects are dismal," he said. "To attract semiconductor companies to the region, they should have first established RE100 industrial complexes and infrastructure."
"How can he promise to finish in just four years when he couldn't take a single step forward during his eight-year term?" Shin said. "This is nothing but a hollow rosy pledge and false hope that deceives citizens."
On population measures, Shin argued that "despite the population declining by over 100,000 during his tenure as Jeonnam governor, he obscures the essence with last year's temporarily risen total fertility rate indicator."
Kim, currently suspended from his duties as South Jeolla Province governor, immediately issued a statement refuting the claims as "distortion of facts."
The Democratic Party will finalize five candidates for the main primary through a preliminary vote by party members on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by the main primary from June 3-5 using a public participation format combining party member votes and opinion polls at 50% each.