DP's Chun Jae-soo captures Busan mayoralty

BUSAN — The ruling Democratic Party (DP) candidate Chun Jae-soo won the Busan mayoral election, promising to start a new chapter for Busan citizens.

“I will bring forth a new era for Busan as a maritime capital that competes confidently with the world,” said the elected candidate shortly after he won the race.

Chun, who served three terms as a lawmaker representing Busan’s Buk-A constituency, secured his first bid for the mayoralty. 

With 50.2 percent of the votes, he defeated the incumbent mayor, Park Heong-joon of the People Power Party (PPP), who had been seeking a third term and garnered 47.9 percent.

He promised to complete Busan’s transformation into a maritime capital by relocating public institutions under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries; establish a court specifically for maritime cases; attract major shipping companies, including HMM, to the city; and create an investment company with a capital scale of 50 trillion won ($32.7 billion).

“I will take this [victory] as a clear mandate from the people of Busan to get the city back on its feet,” Chun said.

When Chun announced his candidacy in early April, he seemed to be the favorite to win, as he led Park by more than 10 percentage points in support ratings.

The race tightened in mid-May. Park sought to consolidate conservative support by highlighting the advantages of incumbency and his administrative record. Campaign appearances by former President Park Geun-hye and former President Lee Myung-bak further boosted his campaign, turning the contest neck and neck in its final stages.

Chun ultimately prevailed by a narrow margin after winning over centrists and undecided voters due to public sentiment regarding PPP-born former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration and a coattail effect from the Lee Jae Myung administration.

In the local elections four years ago, Park won in a landslide victory over the then-DP candidate. At the time, the PPP swept 12 of Busan’s 16 district and county governments, including the mayor’s office.

Chun’s success marks only the second time since the restoration of elected local governments in 1995 that the progressive DP has taken power in Busan, a traditional conservative stronghold, following its victory in the 2018 local elections.

He emphasized political efficacy throughout his campaign as a way to appeal to voters.

His five key pledges were to complete Busan’s transformation into a maritime capital; implement a 100-day emergency livelihood support program; develop Arctic shipping routes; establish Busan as an AI-based future city; and revive the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang megacity initiative.

To prepare for the era of Arctic shipping routes, he promised to create a national maritime strategy committee directly under the authority of the president.

He also proposed creating major maritime industry belts, focused on finance, knowledge, business and maritime AI, to generate high-quality jobs by combining the shipping and port sectors with maritime finance, judicial services and AI technology.

Additionally, Chun plans to establish a livelihood stability headquarters — directly under the mayor — to respond quickly to inflation, employment and housing issues while expanding support for small business owners and vulnerable groups. He intends to prioritize community-oriented projects over large-scale development initiatives during his first 100 days in office.

“I have spent many years preparing strategies for Busan’s development and its future as a maritime capital,” Chun said. “Without losing sight of my original commitment, I will work [...] to quickly deliver changes that improve citizens’ lives.”

Born in Uiryeong County, South Gyeongsang, Chun attended Mandeok Elementary School, Deokcheon Middle School and Gudeok High School in Busan before graduating from Dongguk University with a bachelor’s degree in history education.

He gained government experience as head of the Personal Secretary to the First Lady and as an administrative officer in the Secretary to the President for State Affairs Monitoring in 2002, during the Roh Moo-hyun administration. After four attempts, he was elected to the National Assembly in 2016.

He served as the first minister of oceans and fisheries under the Lee Jae Myung administration in July 2025, but he stepped down after five months amid allegations that he accepted money from the Unification Church.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY LEE EUN-JI, WE SUNG-WOOK [[email protected]]