2026 Dalseo District Election: How Candidates Kim Yong-pan, Kim Hyung-il, and Hong Sung-ju Plan to Transform the Community

Translation result.

The People Power Party primary for mayor of Daegu’s Dalseo District has consolidated into a three-way contest.

Each candidate is emphasizing a different strength — national political clout, local administrative experience, or economic policy expertise — as they court both party members eligible to vote in the primary and the broader local electorate.

On March 19, the party’s nomination committee finalized the Dalseo District primary field: former lawmaker Kim Yong-pan, former Dalseo District deputy mayor Kim Hyung-il, and former Daegu deputy mayor for economic affairs Hong Seong-ju (listed in Korean alphabetical order).

This is the first time the party’s central nomination committee — rather than the Daegu city party branch — will directly award the nomination, because Dalseo is a municipal district with a population exceeding 500,000.

The final nominee will be chosen in a main primary that equally weights party-member votes and a public opinion poll, each accounting for 50%.

Each contender outlined their platform immediately after being confirmed.

Kim Yong-pan, a former lawmaker and one-time national police chief, said Dalseo needs “an innovative, not managerial, leader,” stressing his drive and national-level experience as assets.

Kim Hyung-il, a former Dalseo deputy mayor, argued that the person most familiar with local issues is best positioned to solve them and presented himself as a hands-on local administrator. Hong Seong-ju, a former Daegu deputy mayor for economic affairs, touted an economic revival agenda and pledged to “build a prosperous, happy Dalseo together with its residents.”

The nomination committee said it conducted a fair review of paperwork, interviews, and poll results and will announce the specific primary schedule once it is finalized. As Daegu’s largest municipal district, Dalseo’s primary outcome could reshape the citywide electoral map.