The Busan mayoral race has become embroiled in a debate over past records ahead of former President Lee Myung-bak's visit to the city on the 31st. The camp of Jun Jae-soo, the Democratic Party candidate, has raised the issue of the abolition of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries during the Lee Myung-bak administration to take aim at Park Heong-jun, the People Power Party candidate. Park's camp has counterattacked by highlighting the achievements of the Gadeokdo New Airport and Busan development projects. The debate over merits and faults between the ruling and opposition parties, targeting moderate voters who represent the biggest battleground in the final stretch of the election, has taken center stage.
Jun's election committee held an emergency press conference at the campaign headquarters on the 30th and criticized Park, saying, "It is contradictory for the force responsible for diminishing Busan's status by abolishing the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to talk about Busan's future." The argument is that Park, who was a key figure in the government at the time, should clarify his position regarding the abolition of the ministry during the Lee Myung-bak administration's government reorganization.
The election committee particularly took issue with the former president's Busan visit itself. "They have brought the very person who caused Busan's decline into the election," the committee said, escalating its offensive by calling it "a textbook case of old-style politics." The logic is that as Busan is reclaiming its status as the maritime capital through the relocation of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to the city, it is a deception of citizens for the force that was involved in abolishing the ministry to once again talk about Busan's future.
Jun's camp emphasized, "The way to revive Busan is not to return to past failures but to rebuild Busan's future from within Busan itself," adding, "We will restore Busan's competitiveness through responsible politics and politics that delivers."
In response, Park's camp countered that Jun's side is pulling out a past-oriented frame ahead of the election. They argued that the essence of the Gadeokdo New Airport controversy was the competition between Gadeokdo and Miryang for the site at the time, and that what effectively delayed the project was "the Moon Jae-in administration period, when a review was hinted at in 2019 and the matter was transferred to the Prime Minister's Office."
Regarding the abolition of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the camp rebutted, "The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs system, which integrated land, transport, logistics, and shipping functions, was a policy choice to strengthen national logistics competitiveness." The development of Busan New Port and the fostering of the shipbuilding and offshore plant industries, the camp said, were continuously pursued under that system.
Park's camp instead cited projects such as the development of Samrak and Hwamyeong Ecological Parks and the Eco Delta City project, emphasizing, "A significant portion of Busan's current major growth foundations are the results of national projects pursued during the Lee Myung-bak administration." The argument is that the Democratic Party's offensive surrounding the former president's Busan visit is fixated solely on past accountability.
Ultimately, this exchange is interpreted as a late-stage election frame triggered by the former president's Busan visit. The Democratic Party is highlighting the conservative camp's past through its "accountability for the abolition of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries" argument, while emphasizing the significance of relocating the ministry to Busan, which is being pursued after the change of government. The People Power Party, on the other hand, is countering with a "succession of achievements" argument by citing major Busan development projects such as the Gadeokdo New Airport, Busan Port development, and Eco Delta City.
