Lee Eon-ju, the power of the people, recently visited a traditional market in Busan. Preliminary candidate for the Busan Mayor. Eonju Lee Preliminary Candidate Camp provided
On April 7th, each party’s primary race, which selects candidates running for the Busan Mayor’s by-election, has come to an end. The power of the people decides the candidates for the finals on the 4th, and the Democratic Party will hold the first round on the 6th.
Except for those who failed to pass the preliminary race or voluntarily resigned from among the preliminary candidates registered with the Busan City Election Management Committee, nine preliminary candidates are running toward the final as of the 1st. <한겨레>Interviews prospective candidates one after another to help voters make good judgments. The interview was conducted in writing and by phone due to the Corona 19 incident.
Lee Eon-ju (48), a lawmaker from Busan, formerly a conglomerate executive and a re-elected lawmaker, the power of the people The Busan mayoral preliminary candidate appeared like a comet in the 19th general election in 2012. At that time, the Democratic Unification Party strategically nominated this preliminary candidate, a new political newcomer in the 30s, to Gwangmyeong-eul, Gyeonggi Province. This preliminary candidate struck down candidate Jeon Jae-hee, who was formerly the Minister of Health and Welfare, and was a fourth-tier National Assembly member, and gained national recognition. Later, in 2015, he served as a spokesperson for the New Political Democracy Association and carried out progressive legislative activities, such as representing the socially underprivileged. Even after he succeeded in re-election in the 20th general election in 2016, he took the lead in the initiative of the economic democratization bill, and continued as a filibuster in the main assembly of the National Assembly in opposition to the Park Geun-hye administration’s implementation of the anti-terrorism law. The transformation was just a moment. In April 2017, this preliminary candidate left the Democratic Party and declared support for Candidate Ahn Chul-soo, saying, “I have gone a path that no one has taken for the change of Korean politics, and I want to create a truly new Korea with many comrades of the National Assembly Party who want to go.” And joined the National Assembly. After that, he began to strongly reveal conservative political colors. In July of the same year, a school meal worker was described as’a woman who cooks meals’ and was criticized by workers and labor organizations.
Transformation into’progressive → conservative’ during progressive legislative activities
After the People’s Party was established as the Barun Future Party in line with the Barun Party led by former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min, the offensive against the Moon Jae-in government was further strengthened. In 2018, they formed a solidarity to revive the market economy and criticized that “The Moon Jae-in administration is shaking the foundation of the market economy with various economic policies promoted under the name of income-led growth, and is plunging the country’s economy into a deep pit.” Regarding the president, “I am criticized for being dictatorship, but I think a person like former President Park Chung-hee was still a very genius among previous presidents. It was very fortunate from the standpoint of our people that such a president appeared in our history.” After leaving the Barun Future Party in April 2019, this preliminary candidate founded the’Progress to the Future 4.0′, and joined the Future Integration Party (currently the power of the people) ahead of the 21st general election and the general election in February last year. In last year’s general election, he ran as a candidate for the Future Integration Party in Nam-gu, Busan, not his district, but was defeated after being pushed by Park Jae-ho as a candidate for the Democratic Party. In this Busan Mayor’s by-election, “Before being a politician, I am a business man. I hope that the Busan citizens will have an opportunity to eat well and live well.” Can this prospective candidate’s dream come true?
The Busan Mayor Lee Eon-ju, a preliminary candidate for the power of the people, recently visited the birthplace of former President Park Chung-hee in Gumi, Gyeongsangbuk-do. Eonju Lee Preliminary Candidate Camp provided
Self-confidence of “the only preliminary candidate from real business people”
―Why do you think Busan citizens should choose Lee Eon-ju? “The existing manufacturing, machinery, and shipbuilding industries that have supported Busan are in decline, and it is said that Renault Samsung Motors will withdraw. Young people leave Busan because they do not have new jobs, and the proportion of the elderly population is only increasing. Real income per capita is among the lowest in the country. A young mayor with innovative ideas and momentum appears, and the city itself must be changed through generational change. I worked as an executive at a global conglomerate called Renault Samsung Motors and S-Oil, and learned a sense of the real economy. The scholarly and bureaucratic economic solution cannot save Busan. Only economic experts who know the real economy can revive the Busan economy, and in that sense, I think I’m the right person for the Busan market.” ―If you are elected as the mayor of Busan, what are the three pledges you would most like to practice? “I plan to apply for one tablet PC free of charge to students who are suffering from difficulties with not even one tablet PC. We will arrange it at the minimum cost while receiving support in consultation with the company. Financial resources can be covered by the creation of the Corona 19 Support Fund. Although the proportion of the elderly population in Busan is as high as 20%, many people can’t eat a meal properly. Senior Citizens’ Party and Senior Welfare Facilities are trying to provide free lunch. The goal is to incorporate artificial intelligence into life by building an artificial intelligence life safety service system. We will create an artificial intelligence convergence cluster based on cooperation with global companies and research institutes. In the medical field, artificial intelligence and medical convergence education and research will be promoted. In addition, we will try to analyze the health status in real time by linking with the health data storage server of each welfare center in Busan. We will increase efficiency by creating a system that shares the data of all ports in Busan in real time.” ―What is your view on Gadeokdo New Airport? “We welcome the passage of the National Assembly plenary session of the Gadeokdo New Airport Special Act. Even as a token of appreciation to the members of the National Assembly for passing the special law through an agreement between the opposition parties, Busan City will do its best to improve the economic feasibility of Gadeokdo New Airport. In fact, it is true to point out that the economic feasibility is insufficient. In order to increase economic feasibility, various attempts are needed, such as integrating the southern economic zone and attracting the demand for logistics in southern Japan by completing a five-port system (submarine tunnel-road-railway-port-airport) such as Korea-Japan submarine tunnel.” ―Busan City has become the representative organization of the consortium in the second phase of the redevelopment of the North Port. If it becomes the mayor of Busan, how will you redevelop the second stage? “We already have an existing plan. Just go ahead. The site itself is not the city of Busan, but the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.” ―As the confrontation between the opposition parties in Busan is fierce, there is a saying that it is half the mayor. Is there any way to resolve the division and conflict according to the camp logic? “I don’t think the confrontation between the opposition parties in Busan is very divisive. For example, many Democrats in Busan often started from conservative camps. Citizens also responded that they would choose a mayor with morality for the development of Busan rather than their political party or ideology in various opinion polls. I don’t think it’s an area where camp logic plays a big role.”
This preliminary candidate was elected as a single candidate by agreement with Preliminary Candidate Park Min-sik prior to the main race, but was not successful in unifying with the preliminary candidate Park Sung-hoon. There are also many analyzes that it is not enough to surpass the preliminary candidate Park Hyeong-jun, who is leading the approval ratings of various opinion polls across the preliminary candidates for the ruling and opposition parties in this three-way contest. As if conscious of this, this preliminary candidate aimed at preliminary candidate Park Hyeong-joon, who served as President Lee Myung-bak, who served as chief political officer and special social adviser, and said, “A candidate who cannot escape the responsibilities of the failed past regime cannot win the Busan mayoral election.” “It is true that the contribution of industrialization is great and the conservatives should be properly evaluated in terms of their understanding of the market economy and liberal democracy and their willingness to defend it. However, as revealed in the recent investigation by the National Intelligence Service for civilians, it is also true that the government in the past has committed an act of destroying democracy that suppressed the freedom of the people. A candidate who is free from the responsibilities of the former regime and a candidate who is flawless should go to the finals,” he argued.
“A new character must be in charge of Busan to be born again”
As you can see in the case of L-City and Rep. Jeon Bong-min (who lost the power of the people due to the suspicion of driving a family company), Busan has long been corrupting the licenses with political relations. It is a place suffering from body aches due to the adhesion of vested interests in the back. Rather, it is (my) strength that there are no interests or political debts since I am not politicized in Busan. You can boldly break the chain of vested interests. We can make it possible for the virtuous cycle of development profits to go back to the citizens.” This preliminary candidate said, “New liquor must be put in a new bag. Busan, which will be born again, has to be a new person. I will thoroughly accept the lessons of the conservatives as they are, develop what I do well, and thoroughly reflect on what I did not do. I have confidence to lead a more advanced Busan municipal administration.” By Kim Young-dong, staff reporter
Lee Eon-ju, the power of the people, a preliminary candidate for the Busan mayor’s by-election