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| ▲ Election campaign vehicles of the main opposition People Power Party stand in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, in this file photo from May 4, 2026, as there are 30 days to go before the June 3 local elections, expected to serve as the first major bellwether of public support for the policies of President Lee Jae Myung's administration since its launch in June last year. (Yonhap) |
rival parties-election pledge
Rival parties seek to woo voters with key campaign pledges ahead of local elections
SEOUL, May 12 (Yonhap) -- Rival parties have unveiled a package of campaign pledges ahead of the local elections, with the ruling Democratic Party (DP) focusing on promoting balanced regional development and artificial intelligence, while the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) is vowing efforts to improve the housing market.
South Koreans will hit the polls on June 3 to elect governors and mayors, as well as city councilors and school superintendents in the elections held every four years. Also up for grabs are 14 National Assembly seats, mostly vacated by lawmakers vying for gubernatorial and mayoral posts in the elections.
As its top pledge, the DP vowed to establish the foundation for balanced regional development and push for the integration of local governments to create more megacities beyond the planned merger between Gwangju and South Jeolla Province.
President Lee Jae Myung's administration is seeking to shift away from a Seoul-centric development model toward one centered on fostering five major regional blocs and three special self-governing provinces amid the declining population in rural areas.
To this end, the ruling party is pledging efforts to complete the construction of a presidential office and a National Assembly building in the central administrative city of Sejong to strengthen the city's role as an administrative capital.
It says it will also work to develop advanced industries, such as artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology and defense, with the goal of building an "AI basic society," where AI is accessible to all citizens.
Since taking office in June last year, Lee has pledged to position South Korea as one of the world's top three AI powerhouses.
On inter-Korean relations, the DP said it would push to achieve substantive progress in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula. It did not explicitly mention the word "denuclearization."
The PPP proposed "normalizing" and stabilizing the housing market as its top priority. The party has argued that excessive regulations have exacerbated instability in the housing market under the Lee administration.
To that end, the PPP aims to expand the supply of long-term rental housing through a special "half-price jeonse" program offering long-term leases at half the market prices of nearby houses in Seoul and parts of the greater metropolitan area.
Jeonse is a unique Korean system whereby tenants give landlords a large returnable deposit instead of paying monthly rent.
The party also vowed to abolish the "reconstruction excess profit recovery system," in which the government collects some of the excess profit from owners of apartments subject to reconstruction, in an effort to spur redevelopment and reconstruction to increase the housing supply.
"The (upcoming) local elections are ones that will end the real estate hell," PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok said during the party's supreme council meeting Monday. "The PPP will protect the homes of the people."
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