"Even the Home Turf Has Become a Battleground"... Democratic Party Hit by a Series of Blows, Including Allegations of a 'Borrowed-Name Loan Shark Business'

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[Financial News] With a little more than a week to go before the June 3 local elections, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has been thrown into emergency mode by a string of setbacks breaking out across the country.
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In Ulsan, the planned unification of DPK candidate Kim Sang-wook and Progressive Party candidate Kim Jong-hoon for the mayoral race is in danger of falling apart. The two parties had initially agreed not to include an anti-strategic voting clause in the unification poll. But the DPK then demanded that the poll be redone with such a safeguard, bringing the process to a halt. Bang Seok-su, head of the Progressive Party's Ulsan chapter, protested, saying, "We cannot accept stopping a game already in progress on a foul and then changing the rules to do it again." He also urged the party to "first explain the signs that the poll results were leaked in advance." The Progressive Party is reportedly seeking evidence preservation from the court against the candidate and the polling agency.
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North Jeolla Province, a traditional DPK stronghold, is seeing a neck-and-neck race after Kim Gwan-young, who ran as an independent after being cut from the party, has performed unexpectedly well. The vote is also splitting along lines of pro-Lee Jae-myung versus pro-Jung Chung-rae. Kim's surge is spreading across the Honam region and appears to be hurting the party in lower-level local races as well. The party leadership has also classified North Jeolla Province as a key battleground. Cho Seung-rae, head of the campaign headquarters, said at a press briefing, "Close races are unfolding within or just outside the margin of error in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Ulsan, South Gyeongsang Province and North Jeolla Province," adding, "Our goal is to win as many as possible in these six battlegrounds, and to win even one more if we can."
Lee Won-taek, the DPK candidate for governor of North Jeolla Province, acknowledged on Kim Ou-joon's YouTube channel that "recent polls have been alternating between a dead heat, a narrow deficit, and a lead, so it is an extremely tight race." He added, "If we collapse in North Jeolla Province, it means collapsing in the heart of President Lee Jae-myung's support base, so the situation is urgent," underscoring the sense of crisis.
Kim Gwan-young, meanwhile, appeared on YTN Radio's "Jang Sung-cheol's News Myeongdang" and said, "As the first person recruited by the president, it was only right that I tell him about my decision to run as an independent," again hinting at prior coordination. The Blue House, however, said that "elections are the domain of voters" and added, "Please refrain from dragging the president and the Blue House into election issues or using them as material for political strife."
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In Pyeongtaek-eul, the biggest battleground in the by-election for a National Assembly member, the Rebuilding Korea Party is clashing with Kim Yong-nam of the Democratic Party over allegations that he operated a loan shark business under another person's name. Kim responded on KBS World Radio's "Jeonggyeok Sisa," saying the attacks from Cho Kuk's camp were "the height of hypocrisy." He fired back, saying, "Cho Kuk was elected as a proportional representative in the 22nd National Assembly, then ran again in the 22nd by-election after his election was invalidated." In response, Seo Wang-jin, the Rebuilding Korea Party's chief campaign chair, countered, "This is an election being held over the issue of borrowed-name assets, and now a borrowed-name loan shark allegation has surfaced against the Democratic Party candidate as well."
gaa1003@fnnews.com An Ga-eul Reporter