On June 1, following an explosion at Hanwha Aerospace in Daejeon and a toxic gas leak at SK Hynix in Cheongju, the leadership of the Democratic Party and the People Power Party announced the suspension of public campaign events.
Individual candidate camps also shifted their approach, refraining from campaign songs, choreography, and speeches using microphones, opting instead for quieter interactions with voters. With the elections just two days away, both parties recognized that inappropriate responses to these safety incidents could negatively impact voter sentiment.
Jeong Cheong-rae, the Democratic Party's campaign chief, issued an urgent directive to all candidates to halt campaign activities immediately following the Hanwha Aerospace incident.
After presiding over a final central campaign committee meeting in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, Jeong was scheduled to visit Goesan, Andong, and Ulsan. However, upon arriving in Goesan, he stated, "I have come to announce the nationwide suspension of campaign activities. I hope everyone follows the central party's guidelines and remains calm. In light of the life-and-death situation, we cannot conduct our campaign as usual."
Jeong skipped a planned event to present pledges for Lee Cha-young, the candidate for Goesan County mayor, and proceeded to Andong. In Andong, he wore a black suit without a tie instead of the usual blue campaign attire and made no remarks of support for Gyeongsangbuk-do governor candidate Oh Jung-ki or Andong mayor candidate Lee Sam-gyeol before heading directly to Daejeon, where the explosion occurred. His visit to Ulsan was canceled.
Joo Seung-rae, the Democratic Party's campaign chief, also stated at a press conference that the party would actively cooperate in addressing the incidents and continue with calm campaign activities during the remaining election period.
Seoul mayor candidate Oh Se-hoon also canceled his planned speech at the Namseong Market in Dongjak-gu. However, he decided to proceed with policy meetings scheduled in Gangnam and Yongsan regarding redevelopment and reconstruction.
The People Power Party also canceled public campaign events for campaign chiefs Jang Dong-hyuk and Song Eon-seok. Initially, the campaign leadership had planned to rally support in regions where they were trailing, such as Jeju and the metropolitan area. However, following the collapse of the Seosomun High School and the Hanwha Aerospace explosion, they shifted their strategy to avoid public events.
Jang instructed all candidate camps to refrain from using campaign songs and choreography and to conduct calm campaign activities. He expressed his condolences on Facebook, stating, "I pray for the souls of those who tragically lost their lives in the accident and extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. I wish for a swift recovery for the injured."
Jang has canceled his visit to Ulsan and plans to visit the Hanwha Aerospace facility in Daejeon instead.
Oh Se-hoon's campaign also announced, "We will completely ban choreography and campaign songs during today's events and proceed with a calm and quiet schedule." A press conference scheduled at the party headquarters in Yeouido to support Oh has also been postponed.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.