Democratic Party lawmaker Park Jie-won predicted that the ruling party will win the metropolitan mayoral races in the upcoming June 3 local elections by a margin of "13 to 3 or 12 to 4," scaling back his earlier forecast of 15 to 1 made in the early stages of the campaign. Park said one of the most closely contested races, the Daegu mayoral election, looks "difficult."
Speaking on YTN Radio's "Jang Sung-chul's News Myeongdang" on Monday when asked about the current state of the race, Park said, "In the early stages of the election, we somewhat overrated it (as 15 to 1) to give courage to our party members and supporters, but now it is 13 to 3." He added, "Or 12 to 4 at most."
On the outcome of the Daegu mayoral race, the most hotly contested battleground, Park said he sees it as "rather difficult." He explained, "In the end, as we head into the final stretch of the election, camp logic and regional logic will prevail," adding, "The impeached Park Geun-hye, who should be in prison, and the corrupt Lee Myung-bak are roaming the country, rallying conservative forces." In the Daegu mayoral race, Democratic Party candidate Kim Boo-kyum is competing against People Power Party candidate Choo Kyung-ho. While Kim took a commanding lead in various polls early in the campaign, analysts say the race has entered a tight contest in its final stages.
Park also predicted that the South Gyeongsang Province governor race, where Democratic Party candidate Kim Kyoung-soo is competing against People Power Party candidate Park Wan-su, looks "somewhat difficult." Regarding the North Jeolla Province governor race, where independent candidate Kim Kwan-young is expanding his support, Park forecast, "It was a bit difficult at first, but because there are many 'shy Democrats' hidden, I see Democratic Party-nominated candidate Lee Won-taek winning by even a step's margin."
On the Busan Buk-gu A National Assembly by-election, which has emerged as the country's most-watched constituency, Park said, "Because Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak have visited, I rather think Democratic Party candidate Ha Jung-woo is more likely to be elected." He said, "Objectively speaking, isn't the chance of Democratic Party candidate Jeon Jae-soo winning (the Busan mayoral race) high? Because we nominated Ha Jung-woo, the top expert in this era of an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, the democratic and pragmatic citizens of Busan will choose candidate Ha." However, regarding the Pyeongtaek B National Assembly by-election in Gyeonggi Province, where Democratic Party candidate Kim Yong-nam, People Power Party candidate Yoo Eui-dong, and Rebuilding Korea Party candidate Cho Kuk are locked in a three-way contest, Park shook his head, saying, "I really cannot predict that one."
