May 15, 2025
SEOUL – South Korea’s three leading presidential candidates on Wednesday vowed to bring economic prosperity to the conservative South Gyeongsang region, in a bid to appeal to conservative and moderate voters.
Rallies held in the country’s southeastern region by Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Rep. Lee Jae-myung, People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo and Lee Jun-seok of the New Reform Party came as major cities in the area, including Busan, struggle with industrial decline and an exodus of young people.
Lee, who visited Busan in the morning, pledged to relocate the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the headquarters of HMM — formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine — to Busan. The ministry is currently located within the Government Complex Sejong while the headquarters of the country’s container shipping company is located in Seoul’s financial district of Yeouido.
He will pursue the relocation to elevate Busan into a global shipping hub aligned with the scientific projections of new shipping routes to open in the North Pole by 2030, due to global warming, he explained.
“In 2030, the Northern Sea Route will become more accessible and navigable; we must prepare before the opening of new routes,” he said. “The shipping companies must first enter Busan. Then the government must provide direct support to foster both upstream and downstream operations.”
He said that the relocation of HMM won’t be an “easy job,” but stressed that it “won’t be impossible” with the government holding a significant stake in the firm. The government currently owns some 67 percent of the container shipping company through the Korea Development Bank and the Korea Ocean Business Corp.
Lee claimed that the “employees of HMM” agreed to his relocation plan, but this was later denied by one of the two labor unions at the container shipping firm.
“It is more efficient for us to (stay in Seoul) to meet our overseas clients entering through Incheon Airport,” said a spokesperson for HMM’s labor union of longshoremen. “Relocating to Busan would lead to an outflow of the core workforce.”
HMM’s labor union of sailors, on the other hand, recently agreed to cooperate with a sub-committee under the Democratic Party’s central election committee formed to pursue projects tied to the Northern Sea Route.
Lee also criticized former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed pledge to relocate the state-run Korea Development Bank to Busan, while adding that his pledges are more “feasible.”
People Power Party presidential candidate Kim, who toured the Korea Aerospace Administration, a government-funded space and aeronautics agency, in Sacheon, located 331 kilometers from Seoul, vowed to transform the city into a global aerospace hub.
Though the Yoon administration announced and pursued an initiative labeled a “space economic roadmap” in 2022, with the goal of transforming Sacheon as a space and aeronautics hub, critics say that progress has been lackluster.
“I plan to foster the Korea Aerospace Industries and KASA in Sacheon into world-class institutions,” Kim said. “I plan to provide state support to Gyeongsang National University in Jinju to help it stand at the forefront of the research and development of the aerospace industry.”
Meanwhile, Kim said to reporters that he has “yet to hear” anything about the rumor that Yoon plans to leave the People Power Party.
Lee Jun-seok sat down for lunch with students at Pusan National University in Busan and shared his thoughts on “the reality of the university’s students leaving the city for Seoul to find jobs.”
Lee vowed to cater to young Koreans in their 20s and 30s through his policies if elected, saying that he plans to build more data centers and make Busan into a technology and game industry hub.
According to the latest poll released by Gallup Korea, Lee Jae-myung led the polls with 51 percent support, followed by his main rival, Kim Moon-soo, who saw 31 percent. Lee Jun-seok came at 8 percent. The poll by Gallup Korea surveyed 1,002 eligible voters aged 18 and older from May 12-13.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com