Gyeonggi Election Heats Up With 3 Days Left as Candidates Make Final Push

With three days left until the June 3 local elections, ruling and opposition candidates for Gyeonggi Province governor and heads of basic local governments scrambled to win over voters on Sunday, the final weekend of campaigning.

Choo Mi-ae, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate, attended a morning service at Kkumeui Church in Ansan to appeal for votes, then visited Yongin Jungang Market and Uiwang Dokkaebi Market in the afternoon to gauge sentiment among merchants. She continued her campaign in battleground areas including Gwacheon Knowledge Information Town and Misa Station in Hanam.

Yang Hyang-ja, the People Power Party candidate, similarly attended morning services at Suwon Jeil Church and Anyang Eunhye and Jinri Church, where she asked congregants for their valuable votes.

In the afternoon, she campaigned in northern Gyeonggi battlegrounds including Goyang Ilsan Lake Park and the central plaza of Geumneung Station in Paju to build momentum.

Cho Eung-cheon, the Reform Party candidate, campaigned in the area around Suwon Haenggung Palace in the morning and continued his campaign at Osan Osaek Market and Hwaseong Dongtan Lake Park in the afternoon.

In Seongnam and Yongin, drawing attention as the "Yong-Seong (Yongin-Seongnam) battle," candidates traded heated criticisms throughout the day.

In the Seongnam mayoral race, the camp of Kim Byung-wook, the Democratic Party candidate, claimed that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) had confirmed through an official document that approximately 980 billion won in public contributions had been excessively assessed under a special maintenance plan established by the city during the eighth popularly-elected term, when his rival Shin Sang-jin of the People Power Party served as mayor. Kim's camp argued that Shin had significantly increased the public contribution burden on citizens.

In response, Shin's camp countered that MOLIT had already identified the issues and presented solutions in April, and that sending an official document right before the election was blatant election interference.

The camp of Hyun Keun-taek, the Democratic Party candidate running for Yongin mayor, claimed that the senior bus fare support ordinance and Gyeonggi Province urban railway network plan routes listed in the campaign materials of Lee Sang-il, the People Power Party candidate, had not actually been enacted or reflected, arguing that this constituted false statements that could result in election invalidation.

Lee's camp was buoyed by a surprise support rally from Ahn Cheol-soo, a People Power Party lawmaker (Bundang-A) from the same party who serves as honorary head of his campaign committee. After a street campaign in the cafe street area of Bojeong-dong, Giheung-gu, Ahn said, "Mayor Lee Sang-il has greatly transformed and developed Yongin by successfully advancing semiconductor projects and other initiatives," emphasizing that "it is clear that Mayor Lee Sang-il is the person to continue propelling Yongin forward."

The Gyeonggi chapters of the Democratic Party and People Power Party issued successive critical statements targeting major basic local government candidates in support of their party's contenders.

The Democratic Party Gyeonggi chapter probed records of phone calls between Lee Hyun-jae, the Hanam mayoral candidate, and Myung Tae-kyun, the central figure in the "Myung Tae-kyun Gate" pinpointed as a trigger for the downfall of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, while continuing to denounce People Power Party Ansan mayoral candidate Lee Min-geun, who is embroiled in bribery allegations.

The Democratic Party Gyeonggi chapter unleashed a barrage of attacks, citing allegations of donation activities and pre-election campaigning by gubernatorial candidate Yang and Anseong mayoral candidate Kim Jang-yeon; allegations of preferential treatment regarding Mumin Park, opinion manipulation, and Baekun Valley development concerning Uiwang mayoral candidate Kim Seong-je; alleged violations of the Public Official Election Act by Seongnam mayoral candidate Shin Sang-jin; thesis plagiarism allegations against Icheon mayoral candidate Kim Kyung-hee; illegal political fund allegations against Pocheon mayoral candidate Baek Young-hyun; and civilian surveillance and bribery allegations against Yangpyeong county head Jeon Jin-seon.

The People Power Party Gyeonggi chapter likewise held an emergency press conference to raise allegations of various misconduct and crimes by Democratic Party candidates.

The People Power Party took issue with allegations of false remarks by candidate Choo regarding her son, alleged misuse of business promotion expenses by Ansan mayoral candidate Cheon Yeong-mi, an investigation into primary election irregularities involving Goyang mayoral candidate Min Kyung-sun, and bribery allegations against Anseong mayoral candidate Kim Bo-ra.

The party also highlighted allegations of fake credentials and false asset reporting by Dongducheon mayoral candidate Lee In-gyu, asset underreporting allegations against Paju mayoral candidate Son Bae-chan, school violence allegations against Yangju mayoral candidate Jeong Deok-yeong, and real estate speculation allegations involving the spouse of Hwaseong mayoral candidate Jeong Myeong-geun.

Im Tae-hee, the conservative candidate vying for Gyeonggi Province education superintendent, and Ahn Min-suk, the progressive candidate, toured northern and southern Gyeonggi respectively to ask for votes.

Im highlighted his pledges to control education-related costs such as private tutoring fees and school uniform expenses, while Ahn focused on his LAS (Literacy, Arts, Sports) education pledge.