[Herald Economy (Ulsan) = Park Dongsun] With one month until the June 3 local elections and the question of whether progressive candidates will unite emerging as the key factor in the Ulsan mayoral race, Progressive Party candidate Kim Jong-hoon has drawn attention by systematically rebutting Democratic Party candidate Kim Sang-wook’s proposals, including a plan to introduce a Ulsan subway.On May 1, Kim’s policy verification team called Kim Sang-wook’s subway proposal “an irresponsible attempt to revive a plan already deemed infeasible for campaign purposes,” and released what it called the “Three Arguments Against Building a Ulsan Subway.”
Kim argued a subway in Ulsan is not viable for three reasons: technical safety concerns due to soft ground at the Taehwa River estuary in the city center; poor economic feasibility because of high private-car usage and low population density; and inefficiency in urban form given Ulsan’s dispersed, multi-centered residential patterns.
He said that when safety, cost and urban structure are evaluated together, the current tram (urban rail) policy is the appropriate solution, and that a push for subway construction would only increase inconvenience for residents. He urged officials to focus on practical alternatives, such as creating a Ulsan Transportation Authority to integrate bus and tram operations and planning a long-term transition to full public ownership.
Kim’s campaign formed a “Policy Verification Team for Ulsan’s Great Transformation” and also rebutted Kim Sang-wook’s April 21 social media suggestion to promote Byeongyeongseong as a tourist resource, saying “a list of isolated tourist products won’t resolve the Byeongyeongseong issue.”
Progressive candidates participated in a Ulsan regional debate aimed at unifying progressive nominees, streamed on NewsTomato’s YouTube channel at 6 p.m. yesterday, where they discussed city issues.
Meanwhile, on May 1 the People Power Party granted a single nomination to Kim Tae-kyu, the party’s district committee chair, for the Ulsan Nam-gu Gap seat. That seat will be contested in a by-election held alongside the June 3 local elections after Democratic Party mayoral hopeful Kim Sang-wook resigned his assembly seat. Kim Tae-kyu, a former judge, served as vice chair of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission and of the Korea Communications Commission under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
The Democratic Party issued a strategic nomination to its “No. 1 recruit,” lawyer Jeon Tae-jin. Separately, Lee Mi-young, a senior member of the New Future Democratic Party, officially declared her candidacy, and former Ulsan councilor Kim Dong-chil—who left the People Power Party to become the inaugural Ulsan provincial chair of the Reform New Party—is preparing to run as well.
