'Strong Growth' Choo Mi-ae vs. 'Hands-on Worker' Kim Dong-yeon: Ruling Party Heavyweights Join Gyeonggi Governor Race [June 3 Local Elections Begin]

Choo Mi-ae of the Democratic Party of Korea and Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon both formally declared on the 12th that they will run in the June 3 Local Elections for the Gyeonggi governorship. In various opinion polls, they are outpacing previously declared contenders Han Joon-ho and Kwon Chil-seung, as well as former lawmaker Yang Ki-dae, and are locked in a battle for first and second place in the party’s primary race.
Choo first held an official campaign launch at the press room of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, where she unveiled her pledges and outlined her vision. She presented four overarching policy pillars: “strong growth,” “fair Gyeonggi,” “artificial intelligence (AI)–driven administrative innovation,” and a “warm Gyeonggi Province.”
Under the banner of strong growth, she declared that she would foster the bio, mobility and content industries with the semiconductor sector at the core, thereby creating jobs. For a fair Gyeonggi, she mentioned preparing appropriate measures for regulated areas, as well as expanding local currency programs and tailored support policies. To drive AI-based administrative innovation, she pledged to introduce AI systems into the capital region’s transportation network and into safety and disaster management. She also said she would push a “Choo Mi-ae–style basic income for Gyeonggi Province.” In addition, she laid out detailed pledges such as early completion of the Great Train eXpress (GTX) network and the Central Region Metropolitan Express Railway (JTX), one-stop administrative services, and measures to address hearing loss issues.
At Anyang Station, Kim Dong-yeon declared his bid for re-election, saying, "I am 100% confident of victory in the general election," and, "I will be a constant of victory that allows not even a 1% variable for defeat. I am also confident that I can sweep all 31 cities, counties and districts." He highlighted what he has achieved during his current term as governor and then laid out his key pledges should he win a second term.
Kim said, "I will ensure that construction begins on the 800,000 housing units I promised to supply within my four-year term," adding, "We will provide 265,000 public rental housing units, and a significant portion of them will be built as the 'middle-class public rental housing' emphasized by the president."
He also pledged to toughen penalties and root out market-disrupting forces such as real estate price-rigging cartels. In addition, he announced that he would launch the "Gyeongcheon Dongji Project." The core of this project is to move above-ground infrastructure—such as surface railways, arterial roads and power lines—underground. To finance it, the province plans to operate a "Gyeongcheon Dongji Fund" in which residents directly invest and receive returns, and to push for the establishment of the Gyeonggi Investment Corporation in northern Gyeonggi.
In opinion polls on candidate suitability, Governor Kim and lawmaker Choo recorded 31.9% and 21.6% respectively, far ahead of other contenders. Han Joon-ho followed with 8.3%, Kwon Chil-seung with 1.4%, and former lawmaker Yang Ki-dae with 1.2%.
The Democratic Party of Korea will hold a two-day preliminary primary from the 21st to the 22nd to narrow the field of five candidates down to three. The main primary will then take place from April 4 to 7. If no candidate wins a majority in the main primary, a two-way runoff will be held from April 15 to 17 to select the final nominee.
The cited poll was conducted by Research & Research and JoWon C&I at the request of Gyeonggi Ilbo. The survey was carried out on March 21 among 1,012 men and women aged 18 or older residing in Gyeonggi Province, with a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. For more details, refer to the website of the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission.
gowell@fnnews.com Kim Hyeong-gu, Jang Chung-sik Reporter