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Ex-South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo declares presidential candidacy

Published: 13 Apr. 2025, 15:46

Former South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo announces his bid for the presidency at Sejong City Hall in Sejong on April 13. [NEWS1]

Former South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo announced his bid for the June 3 presidential election on Sunday, becoming the fourth candidate from the liberal Democratic Party (DP) to enter the race.

In declaring his candidacy Sunday in Sejong, Kim pledged to turn the central city, already home to several ministries, into the administrative capital of Korea.

Kim was the press secretary for the late former President Roh Moo-hyun in 2008 and worked for another liberal president, Moon Jae-in, during Moon's campaign in 2017.

He represented Gimhae, South Gyeongsang, from 2016 to 2018 and served as its governor from 2018 to 2021.

Kim chose Sejong as the site of his announcement because it represents the decentralization and balanced development that Roh long tried to achieve, according to his aides.

The election, following the ousting of former President Yoon Suk Yeol after his ill-fated martial law declaration, has been set for June 3

Kim called the current presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul, “a symbol of insurrection” and said, “There is no reason for the president to absolutely be in Seoul.

“The presidential office must be relocated to Sejong, and a new era of regional growth must begin,” Kim said. “We must change the basic framework of national governance and diversify pillars of national growth.”

To that end, Kim proposed dividing Korea into “five self-governing megacities” that could keep the president from wielding absolute power.

Kim, 57, will be up against former DP leader Lee Jae-myung, Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Dong-yeon and another ex-South Gyeongsang governor, Kim Doo-gwan, in the DP primaries.

Lee, who lost to Yoon in the last election in 2022, is regarded as the front-runner of both the party primary and the general election.

Yonhap