With 14 days remaining until the June 3 local elections, Park Heong-jun of the People Power Party and Jeon Jae-soo of the Democratic Party of Korea, both candidates for Busan mayor, on Tuesday unveiled their core campaign pledges, with Park focusing on tangible welfare programs and Jeon presenting an industrial strategy built on regional government-industry-university cooperation.
At a press conference held at the Busan Metropolitan Council, Park said, "A bigger Busan matters, but the life of each individual citizen matters more," as he disclosed six livelihood projects reflecting proposals submitted directly by citizens. The centerpiece pledges are the introduction of public health insurance for companion animals and a 1 trillion won half-price refinancing loan program for small business owners. The plan aims to ease the medical cost burden facing the growing number of households raising pets and to lower the financing costs of self-employed business owners struggling with high interest rates.
Other life-oriented policies included the establishment of a fisheries headquarters — the first of its kind among metropolitan governments — for those in the fishing industry, the creation of a lifelong education center for slow-learning children, the operation of a big data-based late-night-only "Byeolbada Bus" for citizens who lose access to transportation home during late hours, and the launch of a new apartment management division and center. Park stressed that these are realistic livelihood pledges that take fiscal and executional feasibility into account, saying, "I will create a Busan of dignity that takes responsibility for the daily lives of each and every citizen to the very end."
On the same day, Jeon presented his "regional government-industry-university cooperation" vision, linking Busan's future industrial strategy with higher education innovation. "For Busan's industrial transformation, universities must be treated not as mere recipients of support but as core partners in regional development," he said, putting forward a growth strategy that simultaneously pursues industrial restructuring and the settlement of young people in the region.
Following his earlier proposal of a "First Career Guarantee" system, which would dispatch youth interns hired by the Busan city government to companies to ensure one year of practical work experience, Jeon went a step further by announcing plans to build a "work-study-career integrated" system that links jobs and education by expanding industry contract-based academic programs operated by local universities.
He also said that crafting a sophisticated strategy to connect local industrial demand with university education systems is necessary. As alternatives, he proposed training data scientists in connection with the Busan Port artificial intelligence (AI) transformation project, establishing a national university consortium graduate school of marine and fisheries, and operating an AI video center in cooperation with 11 local universities. "We must newly design a talent cultivation system that leverages Busan's geographical characteristics and industrial infrastructure," Jeon said.
