People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo on the 9th officially declared a run for mayor of Busan, saying, "I will devote everything to making Busan a global maritime capital."
At a press conference in the Busan Metropolitan Council briefing room that day, Joo said, "As a young mayor who heeds the will of Busan citizens, I will broadly appoint people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s to build a young and strong Busan," and stated accordingly.
Joo emphasized the role Busan has played in Korea's development and pointed to the limits of concentration in the capital region, saying, "For Korea to take off again, Busan and Seoul must support the nation on two axes. Busan must be reborn as a maritime capital with infrastructure and stature comparable to Seoul."
Joo put the economy first and presented a plan to complete a "shipping-port-finance" ecosystem. He said, "The transfer of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and HMM is good, but that alone is not enough," adding, "We will push a model in which the government, Busan City, and the private sector including HMM invest together. With HMM's retained earnings reaching 14 trillion won, we will build a structure to invest as a public-private joint fund."
He also stressed that he would make Busan an "artificial intelligence (AI) mecca." He said he would use the Special Act on Distributed Energy and a differential rate system to make Busan an "energy specialized zone," and, based on that, concentrate on attracting advanced corporations such as AI and data centers.
For youth policy, he pledged to create a deputy mayor for youth to be in charge of youth jobs and housing. Joo said, "We will provide 'high-quality half-price apartments' to young people and newlyweds and introduce land-lease sale housing to reduce the burden of land rent."
He also pledged to establish a Northern Sea Route Agency and a Fisheries Promotion Corporation. He said he would promote technology development such as nuclear-powered icebreakers through the Northern Sea Route Agency and establish the Fisheries Promotion Corporation to boost K-fisheries competitiveness and secure food sovereignty.
On administrative integration of Busan, Ulsan, and South Gyeongsang, he emphasized it as a "mandatory task." Joo said, "We must create a market of 8 million people and play a priming role for the economy by receiving more than 20 trillion won in national funding," adding, "If necessary for the swift integration of the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang region, I will also set aside vested interests."
Born in 1975, Joo graduated from the law department of Seoul National University and passed the 41st bar exam. After completing the 31st Judicial Research and Training Institute, Joo was appointed a prosecutor at the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office and served as deputy chief prosecutor at the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and the Busan District Prosecutors' Office Dongbu Branch, and as chief prosecutor at the Cheongju District Prosecutors' Office Chungju Branch. Joo served as the inaugural legal secretary in the presidential office of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and was elected as a National Assembly member for Haeundae-gu Gap in the 2024 general election.