Candidates ride zip-lines, complete pull-ups for unconventional campaigns ahead of June 3 local elections
Published: 25 May. 2026, 07:00
![Kim Jin-tae, the People Power Party's candidate for the Gangwon governor, center, does pull-ups while wearing a sign asking for people's support at a gym in Chuncheon, Gangwon, on May 18. [KIM JIN-TAE CAMPAIGN OFFICE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/05/25/d5441811-98fe-4d08-a056-844bc5e5d6a2.jpg)
Kim Jin-tae, the People Power Party's candidate for the Gangwon governor, center, does pull-ups while wearing a sign asking for people's support at a gym in Chuncheon, Gangwon, on May 18. [KIM JIN-TAE CAMPAIGN OFFICE]
Pull-ups and planks apparently aren’t just for the gym, as candidates running in the June 3 local elections have shown by using them as unconventional campaign methods to grab voters’ attention.
Kim Jin-tae, the People Power Party (PPP) candidate running for governor of Gangwon, rode a zip line at Naerincheon Stream in Inje County, Gangwon, on May 17 to campaign for votes.
While zip-lining, he held a sign that read “A special vote to choose the real candidate.” The number two was incorporated into the sign to refer to the ballot number assigned to the PPP.
He also visited a gym in Chuncheon, Gangwon, on May 18, during which he completed 20 pull-ups while wearing the same sign around his neck.
“Those events are intended to encourage conservative voters who may not participate in opinion polls to show up on election day,” said the campaign official. “It's an effort to mobilize our supporters.”
Kim is trailing in the race for governor of Gangwon.
In a telephone survey of 1,200 Gangwon residents aged 18 and older, conducted by KBS Chuncheon and Hankook Research between May 11 and Thursday, Kim polled at 32.7 percent, and Democratic Party (DP) candidate Woo Sang-ho at 44.8 percent. The latter led outside the margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
Competition is also fierce for the Pyeongtaek-B constituency by-elections as five candidates, including Rebuilding Korea Party candidate Cho Kuk, are vying for the seat.
Like Kim, every one of the candidates is doing as much as they can to get voters’ attention.
![Left: Cho Kuk, the Democratic Party (DP)'s candidate for Pyeongtaek-eul, says he will do planks for 3 minutes and 33 seconds on May 1, 33 days before the June 3 local elections. Right: Oh Jung-ki, the DP's candidate for North Gyeongsang governor, does sit-ups to campaign for the election. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/05/25/78003cb0-b85e-41d5-a243-b1991a2924ab.jpg)
Left: Cho Kuk, the Democratic Party (DP)'s candidate for Pyeongtaek-eul, says he will do planks for 3 minutes and 33 seconds on May 1, 33 days before the June 3 local elections. Right: Oh Jung-ki, the DP's candidate for North Gyeongsang governor, does sit-ups to campaign for the election. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
On May 1, 33 days before the June 3 local elections, Cho uploaded a video to social media of himself holding a plank for 3 minutes and 33 seconds.
In another telephone survey of 500 Pyeongtaek residents aged 18 and older, conducted by MBC and Korea Research between Saturday and Monday, Kim Yong-nam of the DP had the highest support rate among the Pyeongtaek-A constituency candidates at 31 percent. Cho followed at 27 percent, PPP candidate Yu Eui-dong at 17 percent, Freedom and Innovation Party candidate Hwang Kyo-ahn at 7 percent and Progressive Party candidate Kim Jae-yeon at 2 percent.
Oh Jung-ki, the DP candidate for North Gyeongsang governor, uploaded a YouTube Short in April of himself doing sit-ups at a park. The video carried the slogan “Oh Jung-ki is energy.”
In another Shorts video posted that same month, Oh unclogged a toilet with a plunger. The video had the slogan “Oh Jung-ki will unclog the blocked North Gyeongsang economy.”
Oh’s campaign office said the videos were intended to present a more approachable image of him to voters in North Gyeongsang, traditionally considered a conservative stronghold.
Other election campaigns have involved head-shaving and hunger strikes, often regarded as last-minute measures in politics.
![Yang Hyang-ja, the People Power Party’s candidate for Gyeonggi governor, sits in a tent on May 19 during an indefinite hunger strike to urge a resolution to labor-management conflicts at Samsung Electronics. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/05/25/5c33f48b-03a9-4ba3-825a-506ffba25c37.jpg)
Yang Hyang-ja, the People Power Party’s candidate for Gyeonggi governor, sits in a tent on May 19 during an indefinite hunger strike to urge a resolution to labor-management conflicts at Samsung Electronics. [NEWS1]
Yang Hyang-ja, the PPP’s candidate for Gyeonggi governor and a former Samsung Electronics executive, began an indefinite hunger strike on May 18 to urge a resolution to labor-management conflicts at her former company.
Rep. Suh Bum-soo, the co-head of the PPP’s election committee in Ulsan and a two-term lawmaker representing Ulju County, shaved his head that same day while calling for conservative candidates to unify their candidacies.
In the race for the Gyeonggi governor, DP candidate Choo Mi-ae has maintained a commanding lead. For the Ulsan mayoral election, DP candidate Kim Sang-wook and Jinbo Party candidate Kim Jong-hoon agreed to discuss unifying candidacies for progressive support.
“At this point, candidates have to try anything as long as it doesn’t make them look unlikable,” a senior PPP official said. “There’s nothing off-limits for those trailing behind, whether it’s unusual campaign tactics or just about anything else.”
While eye-catching campaigns can make candidates noticeable, some argue that a line must be drawn somewhere.
“The standard strategy is for leading candidates to run quiet campaigns to avoid making mistakes while trailing candidates try to shake up the race with attention-grabbing ones,” said Lee Jae-mook, a political science professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. “But if campaigns turn into competitions over who can attract more attention, elections could increasingly seem trivial. Policy agendas and visions, which are already sometimes not the main focus, could also become further obscured.”
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 YANG SU-MIN, LEE CHAN-KYU [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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