President Lee Jae-myung said on the 19th, "Following the transfer of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) and the establishment of a maritime court, we will not only set up a Southeast Region Investment Corporation but also soon do the HMM transfer." Sharing a post by Chun Jae-soo, former Minister of Oceans and Fisheries and a potential Busan mayoral candidate, Lee appeared to lend support.
On this day, Lee shared the former Minister's post on his X (formerly Twitter) account, stressing, "Great transformation of Korea, balanced regional development! When we say we'll do it, we do it! Korea does it!"
The former Minister said, "In just six months of the Lee Jae-myung administration, there have been startling accomplishments," citing the enactment of the Busan maritime capital special act, the Busan Maritime Court, the establishment of the Arctic Route Promotion Headquarters, and the transfer of the headquarters of SK Shipping and H-Line Shipping to Busan.
The former Minister is considered a strong Busan mayoral candidate for the Democratic Party of Korea in the June local elections this year. In a poll of 800 Busan residents conducted by Kstat Research for KBS on the 10th to 12th, the former Minister won 40% support, leading Mayor Park Heong-joon (30%) by 10 percentage points. The survey was conducted via telephone interviews, with a margin of error of ±3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level and a response rate of 15.5%. For details, refer to the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.
Within the People Power Party, there is deliberation over holding Busan City, with the possibility of Rep. Joo Jin-woo entering the race being mentioned. Against this backdrop, the president effectively backed the former Minister by publicly sharing the former Minister's achievements. Earlier, Chong Won-o, the Seongdong District head and Seoul mayoral candidate, and Rep. Han Jun-ho, the Gyeonggi governor candidate, also received a shout-out (a public compliment or show of support) from the president.