Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon said Monday that criticism of Han Dong-hoon by Jeon Jae-soo, the Democratic Party’s Busan mayoral candidate, is helping Park’s own support.
Park, the People Power Party’s candidate for Busan mayor, told reporters at the National Assembly’s communications center that Jeon’s repeated attacks on Han’s possible run in a by-election in Busan’s Buk-gu Gap district were “not bad” for Park’s rise in the polls.
A poll released the previous day showed Park and Jeon in a tight race within the margin of error. It was the first time the two major-party candidates were shown in a close contest since their nominations were finalized.
In the survey by Hankook Research, commissioned by KBS Busan, 1,000 Busan residents ages 18 and older were polled April 17-19. Jeon led with 40% support, while Park had 34%, a gap within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Asked about talk of coordinating with Han, Park said once a local election campaign committee is formed, it will “fully discuss” the best approach to win. He added that he has not contacted or met Han.
Park also said the narrowing gap reflected what he called missteps by the Lee Jae-myung administration.
“The current administration keeps deceiving Busan citizens,” Park said, citing the failure of a special law for a global hub city, the stalled relocation of the Korea Development Bank, and delays in converting Baptist Hospital into a public hospital.
Park said public sentiment in Busan “cannot improve” under those conditions and warned that if issues such as the public hospital plan are not resolved properly this time, Busan residents will become even angrier.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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