With three days left until the June 3 local elections, conservative campaign appearances by former presidents have emerged as the biggest variable in the Busan mayoral race. Following former President Park Geun-hye's recent visit to Busan to express support for People Power Party candidate Park Heong-jun, former President Lee Myung-bak also visited the city Saturday, drawing attention to how the conservative consolidation push could sway last-minute voter sentiment.
Lee attended a service at Suyeong-ro Church in Busan with candidate Park on Saturday morning, then greeted citizens at Gunam-ro and Haeundae Traditional Market in Haeundae District.
"A mayor needs to be someone who works, not a politician who only talks," Lee said at the scene. "When I was Seoul mayor, I was an opposition-party mayor, but Seoul was able to develop because citizens chose a mayor who got things done." He added, "Busan's future is determined more by who the mayor is than by who the president or ministers are. If Mayor Park Heong-jun is entrusted with another four years, Busan can develop into an advanced industrial hub city where the population grows and young people gather." Lee continued, "I hope Busan citizens will wisely choose candidate Park, a mayor who can finish the work he started and who gets things done."
Candidate Park is regarded as one of the leading figures in the pro-Lee Myung-bak faction. After Lee was elected the 17th president in December 2007, Park served as a member of the Planning and Coordination Subcommittee of the Presidential Transition Committee, Senior Secretary for Public Relations Planning, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs, and Special Advisor on Social Affairs at the Presidential Office.
On Lee's visit, Park said, "The person who personally planted the seeds of western Busan's development came all this way for Busan's future." He highlighted major projects pursued during the Lee administration and emphasized their connection to Busan's development. "Through the lifting of greenbelt restrictions in the Gangseo area and linkage with the Four Major Rivers Project, Eco Delta City and the Samrak, Hwamyeong, and Macdo ecological parks were created," Park said. "The spaces citizens enjoy today are the fruits of policy decisions made at that time."
He continued, "It was also the Lee Myung-bak administration's decision to push for Busan's designation as a financial hub and the redevelopment of North Port as core national projects. The vision of seeing North Port not as a mere harbor but as a space combining commerce and culture is now extending to the current Tri-Port concept and the commercial North Port development strategy."
Park used the visit to emphasize conservative consolidation and civic unity. "In Busan right now, the momentum for grand civic unity and grand conservative unity is growing stronger," he said. "With the same spirit that led the conservative unity movement in 2019, I will once again become a warrior for unity who overcomes division and conflict."
He also said, "Through the 'Busan Chance,' I will make citizens' lives more comfortable and create a city overflowing with foreign tourists, where small business owners and the self-employed can regain vitality." He added, "Through the Gadeok New Airport, the Busan-style express railway (BuTX), and the logistics Tri-Port, I will complete Busan as a city with world-class competitiveness."
In political circles, analysts say the consecutive Busan visits by former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak indicate that the People Power Party is making an all-out effort to rally conservative support in the final stretch of the campaign. The Democratic Party of Korea, meanwhile, has criticized the former presidents' campaign appearances as "regressive politics" and is pushing back, with intense exchanges expected to continue until election day.
