Translation result.
Yoo Young-ha (Dalseo-gu Gap), who advanced to the People Power Party’s main primary for the June 3 local election for Daegu mayor, effectively ruled out the possibility of unifying with National Assembly Vice Speaker Joo Ho-young and former KCC Chair Lee Jin-sook on the 19th.
At the party’s Daegu office, Yoo told reporters bluntly: \”It is not the conduct of a public figure for a candidate to overturn a party decision that was reached after a long process.\” He made the comment when asked whether he would seek unity with Joo and Lee, both of whom were cut from the party’s nomination and are weighing independent runs.
In his characteristically hardline tone, Yoo said his decision would not change even if party leaders urged him to unify. On Joo’s and Lee’s possible independent bids, he said, \”It is not my place to second-guess each person’s decision,\” and added, \”The final judgment belongs to the citizens of Daegu.\”
Asked about former President Park Geun-hye’s involvement in the campaign, Yoo said, \”I do not have the authority to control former President Park’s actions in the campaign,\” while stressing, \”I am running my campaign entirely with my own team.\”
On questions comparing him with Rep. Choo Kyung-ho (Dalseong-gun), Yoo argued that effective city administration depends less on macroeconomic theory or budget figures than on the ability to deliver results through direct engagement with residents. He said he does not fall short of his rivals in vision, decisiveness, or execution.
When asked about a potential general election contest with Democratic Party preliminary candidate and former Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, Yoo said he feels a responsibility for the conservative establishment’s long neglect of Daegu’s economy and that this sense of duty is the starting point of his platform. He added that he has prepared roughly 60 concrete pledges and will present a detailed blueprint.
Another focus of the briefing was unveiling his policy vision.
Under his \”Daegu Transformation: Five Core Strategies,\” Yoo outlined plans to rebuild the local economy: attract a Samsung semiconductor fab; open a Daegu branch of Samsung Seoul Hospital; establish a \”Daegu-style Future Hope Seed Fund\” to support youth startups; revive the local economy by backing neighborhood shops and small businesses; and overhaul excessive administrative regulations. Yoo has argued that combining Daegu’s historical role as a Samsung startup city with the logistics infrastructure of the Daegu–Gyeongbuk New Airport makes attracting a semiconductor cluster realistic.
The People Power Party will choose its final Daegu mayoral candidate by combining 50% votes from responsible party members and 50% from a general public opinion survey on April 24–25; the result will be officially announced on April 26.
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