[Herald Economy (Chuncheon)=Reporter Ham Young-hoon] On May 4, exactly 30 days before the June 3 local elections, the campaigns of Gangwon Province gubernatorial candidates Woo Sang-ho and Kim Jin-tae moved in sharply different directions.Kim, the candidate from the People Power Party, pressed Woo aggressively; Woo largely ignored the attacks and continued on his own course.
Kim’s campaign, through a spokesperson, demanded, “Does Woo Sang-ho support a special prosecutor to cancel the president’s indictment? Don’t tacitly endorse it through cowardly silence — state your position clearly.”
Kim’s team accused the Democratic Party of pushing a so-called “indictment-canceling special prosecutor” that they contend is riddled with unconstitutional and illegal elements. They warned that using a self-appointed special prosecutor to grant the president a de facto “self-pardon” undermines the rule of law and the separation of powers.
They also noted that the Blue House senior secretary for political affairs — the post Woo held immediately before declaring his candidacy — is meant to liaise with the National Assembly on drafting and revising legislation. From the ruling party’s efforts to seize control of the judiciary through legislation to overreaching parliamentary probes and now a special prosecutor to cancel indictments, they asked, can Woo credibly claim he is not complicit in the Democratic Party’s erosion of the rule of law?
Kim’s camp pressed for clarification, pointing out that a member of the National Assembly who serves as chief spokesperson for Woo’s campaign co-sponsored the bill to create the indictment-canceling special prosecutor. Given that connection, they argued, Woo — as a former presidential appointee — cannot simply wash his hands of responsibility.
After issuing that statement, Kim visited a toy library in Hwacheon on the eve of Children’s Day.
Setting aside those attacks, Woo visited the Hoengseong e-mobility knowledge industry center and attended a “Policy Roundtable for Revitalizing Gangwon’s Future Mobility Industry Ecosystem,” where he discussed a Gangwon-style strategy for future industries.
The roundtable, organized by the Ucheon General Industrial Complex Operations Council, sought ways to respond to shifts in the industrial environment — carbon neutrality, electrification, and autonomous driving — and to shift Gangwon’s industrial structure toward advanced, high-tech sectors.
Notably, Yoo Chang-geun, chairman of SJ Tech Co. — the first company to enter the Kaesong Industrial Complex — attended and spoke about conditions on the ground in Gangwon’s emerging mobility sector.
After touring SJ Tech’s production facilities, which he described as emblematic of Gangwon’s industrial transition, Woo said, “When e-mobility becomes a strategic industry, it will create local jobs and improve residents’ quality of life.” He added, “We will build a Gangwon-style industrial model that leverages Hoengseong’s e-mobility knowledge industry center and the autonomous driving and battery testing centers so that public e-mobility initiatives can move from demonstration projects to full commercialization.”
