The trio running in the Democratic Party of Korea's Aug. 17 party convention leadership race (Kim Min-seok, Song Young-gil, Jung Chung-rae) are all courting Honam. The competition to secure Honam public sentiment, seen as the biggest battleground, is intensifying.
Former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who announced his run in Gwangju on the 6th, has remained in Honam except for a megaproject forum held in Seoul on the 7th. On the 8th, he visited the western Jeonnam region, including Mokpo, to gauge public sentiment, and on the 9th, he visited Yeosu and Gwangyang in the eastern Jeonnam area. On this day, he moved to North Jeolla to meet Governor Lee Won-taeg, and continued his Honam schedule into the third day with visits to the North Jeolla Party's standing committee and the Gunsan shipyard.
At the North Jeolla Party standing committee meeting that day, former Prime Minister Kim said, "I will become a party leader who helps North Jeolla," adding, "During my time as prime minister, the issue I focused on most was Hyundai Motor's investment in Saemangeum." He continued, "I became an honorary citizen of Iksan and am also a resident of Representative Han Byeong-do's district," and emphasized, "Developing Saemangeum is a dream," appealing for support from Honam voters.
Representative Song, who declared his bid on the 8th, has also set out to court Honam. Right after announcing his candidacy in Seoul on the 9th, he went down to Gwangju to hold another press conference declaring his run for party leader, and has since continued a two-day, one-night schedule in Honam. After visiting Samsung Electronics' Gwangju plant that day, Song told reporters, "If I become party leader, I will form a special committee to support the three major megaprojects, and I will personally oversee and immediately support the legislative needs."
That afternoon, Song is set to continue on-the-ground outreach by holding a town hall meeting with dues-paying members in South Jeolla and Gwangju, then visiting Yangdong Market in Seo District to meet with the merchants' association.
Former leader Jung Chung-rae is making the most aggressive push for Honam among the three candidates. Since stepping down as leader, he has visited the North Jeolla region more than three times, including attending Governor Lee Won-taeg's inauguration and a workshop for elected officials of the North Jeolla Party. He also continued his tour of Honam, visiting Suncheon on the 3rd and Hawi Island, the hometown of former President Kim Dae-jung, on the 4th.
That day as well, he revisited North Jeolla, joining former Prime Minister Kim at the North Jeolla Party standing committee meeting to underscore the achievements in the local elections. Jung said, "We won the governor's race, won in 14 mayoral and county chief races, and our provincial assembly candidates also won 100% of the constituency seats," adding, "It was the toughest election, but we won the biggest." In the afternoon, Jung will visit Chosun University in Gwangju to give a lecture on the theme "A country protected by the people, a democratic people's party."
The reason the trio of party leadership contenders are all visiting Honam is that it has the largest number of dues-paying members and, with the one-person, one-vote system in place, their sentiment carries significant weight. In addition, with core Democratic Party supporters concentrated there, actual voter turnout is expected to be high. A Democratic Party official said, "Because Honam has a high proportion of dues-paying members and many people who vote actively, it has both the symbolic and practical influence to sway the party convention outcome."
Based on the party convention held in August last year, the Honam region had about 360,000 dues-paying members, more than Gyeonggi-Incheon in the capital area (330,000) and Seoul (210,000).