Ahead of the Gokseong County by-election scheduled for October, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kwon Hyang-yeop and recent supreme council members Kim Min-seok and Han Jun-ho have begun their political activities in earnest by visiting Gokseong County.
The meeting held within the Gokseong County Council Speaker’s Office on the morning of the twenty fourth was attended by Jeonnam Provincial Party Chairman Joo Cheol-hyeon, National Assembly Member, regional and basic council members, and Gokseong County Governor preliminary candidates. At this meeting, the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea emphasized clean elections and the desire to develop the region, and commenced to solidify its support base.
This visit reveals the strategic importance of the Democratic Party of Korea within the run-up to the Gokseong County by-election. The Democratic Party county mayor is partly liable for the by-election, because the previous county mayor effectively resigned from office as a consequence of violation of election law.
Accordingly, the Democratic Party cannot avoid its moral responsibility to take responsibility for the election, and this shall be a crucial task of renewing the party’s image and restoring the people’s trust. It’s on this context that Rep. Kwon Hyang-yeop’s emphasis on a “clean election without negativity” might be understood.
Meanwhile, the advancement of the Fatherland Innovation Party when it comes to proportional representation votes within the last local elections can also be emerging as a competitive factor that can not be ignored. The Fatherland Innovation Party showed its presence by securing a certain level of support within the last general election proportional representation vote.
As the potential of a competitive structure between the Democratic Party and the Fatherland Innovation Party increases within the Gokseong County mayoral by-election, strategic competition and policy differentiation between the 2 parties are expected to act as key variables within the election.
The indisputable fact that Supreme Council members Kim Min-seok and Han Jun-ho each emphasized livelihood stability and transportation infrastructure improvement might be seen as messages responding to the sensible demands of local voters.
This implies that the leadership recognizes that it’s most vital to ascertain specific policies for the economic stability and development of the area people in Gokseong County. It is anticipated that this may gain the support of voters when it results in a sustainable regional development strategy that goes beyond easy election campaigning.
The Democratic Party leadership’s actions after the meeting, after they visited the Gokseong ‘Okay and Oil Market’ and directly communicated with the residents, reflect the importance of this by-election. The Democratic Party appears to be seeking to use this election as a chance to make up for past mistakes and restore the trust of the residents.
Reporter Yang Jun-seok kailas21@aitimes.com
