In an interview with ChosunBiz on the 8th, People Power Party candidate for the special mayor of the Jeonnam-Gwangju integration Lee Jung-hyun said, "In this local election, my goal is a 30% vote share," adding, "Thirty percent is not a losing number but a 'number of change' that for the first time flips on a strong warning light against nearly 38 years of one-party monopoly politics."
Lee also urged the People Power Party to change. Lee said, "For conservative parties, 'giving up on Honam' has long been the election strategy," adding, "But by giving up on Honam, they also lost Honam natives living in the Seoul metropolitan area, and now it has become difficult to win in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and even Chungcheong. We must give up on 'giving up on Honam.'"
Lee said, "This election will not be party versus party, but old monopoly structures versus new competitive structures," adding, "I will go to small on-the-ground sites rather than big rallies, use my ears more than the microphone, and meet people more than I hang banners."
-Why set a 30% target.
"Thirty percent is not a losing number but a number of change. For a conservative candidate to get 30% in Gwangju and Jeonnam is not a simple vote tally. It is the moment when, for the first time, a strong warning light flips on against nearly 38 years of one-party monopoly politics. I do not see this as merely a win-or-lose election. I want to make it an election in which Gwangju and Jeonnam residents declare that we are not fixed supporters of a particular party but sovereign citizens. If it reaches 30%, the Democratic Party will feel the pressure. It will not be able to neglect pledges, budgets, or nominations. Through 30%, I will revive competition, checks, diagnostics, and tension in Gwangju and Jeonnam politics."
-The Democratic Party of Korea touts itself as a national party, but the People Power Party has been relatively passive about targeting Honam.
"We must give up on the conservative party's 'giving up on Honam.' You cannot just show up during elections; you have to live here year-round. People in Honam acknowledge that a person named Lee Jung-hyun has consistently run for 31 years while living in Honam. The People Power Party's attitude toward Honam will decide whether it can be a governing party. In the Seoul metropolitan area, races are decided by about 3 to 5 percentage points, yet conservative parties are losing countless Honam natives who moved there. If you give up on Honam, you are not only giving up on Honam—you end up losing the metropolitan area, Chungcheong, and even the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region. If your kidney hurts and you ignore it because it's small, you could die from the kidney. If it gives up on Honam, the People Power Party will have no choice but to live as an opposition party forever."
-You served two terms as a lawmaker from Suncheon. What was the secret to winning in Suncheon as a conservative candidate.
"Back then, I campaigned by riding a bicycle around neighborhoods and sleeping in village halls. I campaigned nonstop until midnight. Suncheon citizens were moved and shocked by what they had not seen from Democratic Party candidates. I did not just recite local issues from memory; I explained feasible plans in depth. I showed that, depending on how you work for the community, a conservative party can also win in Honam."
-Is it the same strategy in this election.
"I aim to approach with sincerity and move people. I will travel every corner with the mindset of setting foot in every part of the constituency. Honam also needs choices. There must be competition, and different voices must stay alive. Honam politics hardening to one side does not help regional development at all. More people in Honam are listening closely to this message. This is not an election to hate the Democratic Party; it is an election to make the Democratic Party feel the pressure.
What's different from usual is that I set the dress code to suits. I have often heard that I do not dress well. This time, I will approach with a serious look."
-What is your No. 1 pledge.
"A full diagnostic of Gwangju and Jeonnam and jobs-first governance. I will look into where budgets were spent, why projects were delayed, whether permits and subsidies were fair, and why youth jobs were not created. To that end, I will create a diagnostic committee with participation from young people, experts, and citizens. I will conduct an administrative diagnosis that citizens can feel, not a civil servants' paperwork.
I will make jobs the standard for all administration. I will be a mayor who brings in corporations rather than one who gives many speeches, a mayor who revives industrial complexes rather than one who takes photos, and a mayor who creates salaried positions for young people rather than one who just makes the rounds of events."
-What is your view on campaign support appearances by party leader Jang Dong-hyeok.
"There is no need to view the issue of the party leader's support appearances emotionally. Each candidate faces different local circumstances and has different campaign strategies. The center of the Gwangju and Jeonnam elections should be the residents of Gwangju and Jeonnam, not figures from the central party. I have run in Honam for 31 years and have never called anyone from the central party, believing it more important to meet one more local resident.
That said, it is not right to reject or insult the party leader. A party should be one team. If needed, receive help; if it is not needed for the local strategy, focus on the field."
-What is your stance on enshrining the spirit of May 18 in the Constitution.
"I have consistently supported it. Democratization is vitally important in constitutional history. If the March 1 Movement and April 19 were the process, May 18 is the completion of democratization. If that process is in the Constitution, it is only natural that the spirit of May 18 be in the Constitution. However, constitutional revision is not something a few people decide. In Korea, many of the nine constitutional revisions proceeded as the tyranny of the majority party. Future revisions should be the people's Constitution. They should be done after building consensus. Procedure matters."
-How do you assess the Lee Jae-myung administration.
"It is premature to assess a president who has served less than one year of a five-year term. In marathon terms, it has run only about 5 to 6 kilometers. That said, it is problematic to move, as we see now, toward monopolizing administration, legislation, the judiciary, the media, and local governance—not the Lee Jae-myung administration per se. If this continues, it could head toward the completion of dictatorship. At the very least, such unchecked one-man rule must be restrained and braked in the local elections."
☞Who is Lee Jung-hyun
Born in Gokseong, Jeollanam-do, he is a former leader of the Saenuri Party and a three-term lawmaker. He served as a proportional representative in the 18th National Assembly and won in the Suncheon-si–Gokseong-gun by-election in the 19th National Assembly. He also served as a lawmaker for Suncheon-si in the 20th National Assembly. In the 2022 local elections, he ran as the People Power Party candidate for Jeonnam governor and recorded an 18.81% vote share, the highest for a conservative candidate. Under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, he served as vice chair of the Presidential Committee for Decentralization and Balanced Development, and ahead of this local election, he also served as chair of the People Power Party nomination management committee.