South Gyeongsang Province Governor Park Wan-su, after securing reelection in a historically razor-thin contest in the June 3 local elections, called for stabilizing people's livelihoods and fostering new industries.
Park effectively launched the ninth popularly elected provincial administration on Wednesday, beginning with a tea-time meeting with senior officials at the provincial government office. The move reflects his determination to minimize the administrative gap caused by campaigning after his April 27 candidacy declaration, and to immediately incorporate residents' voices gathered on the ground into policy.
Park named livelihood stability and securing future growth engines as key tasks for the provincial administration going forward. He first reviewed the status of the recently completed distribution of residents' living support payments, emphasizing the importance of maintaining sound finances. "South Gyeongsang Province was able to provide living support payments without additional debt by operating its finances efficiently," Park said. "Please pursue livelihood stability policies for ordinary citizens and vulnerable groups struggling with high prices and economic hardship as the top priority."
He also stressed that he would strengthen the competitiveness of existing key industries and accelerate the fostering of new industries that will be responsible for the province's future. Citing physical AI (artificial intelligence), small modular reactors (SMR), and content and software as future core industries, he called for concentrating administrative capabilities on building an industrial ecosystem and expanding infrastructure.
Ahead of the summer, he also emphasized a full-scale innovation of the administrative system to respond to the climate crisis. Park stated that the province must shift from a system focused on after-the-fact cleanup to a preemptive and proactive response system in the face of accelerating environmental changes such as heat waves and ecosystem shifts.
Park also conveyed his intention to devote himself solely to provincial unity and regional development. He offered words of consolation to Kim Kyoung-soo, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate who competed against him during the election, adding that he would actively adopt good policies into the provincial administration.
"I will not forget the opinions residents conveyed during the campaign, and I will carry out provincial affairs while maintaining my original resolve throughout my term," he said. "Now that the election is over, I ask all public officials to focus solely on residents and regional development and to take an active approach to administrative innovation."
Meanwhile, in the South Gyeongsang governor's race, with the ballot count at 99.98% as of 11:50 a.m. that day, Park secured 51.28% (897,945 votes), defeating Democratic Party of Korea candidate Kim Kyoung-soo (48.71%, 852,873 votes) by a margin of 2.57 percentage points to confirm his victory.
