Kim Kyung-soo pitches 'capable governor' against Park Wan-soo's 'working governor'

The two candidates vying for South Gyeongsang Province governor in the June 3 local elections made a final all-out push Monday, the last day of official campaigning. Democratic Party of Korea candidate Kim Kyung-soo and People Power Party candidate Park Wan-soo both appealed to voters with a sense of urgency.

Kim launched his day at 7 a.m. with a commuter greeting at the entrance to the Anmin Tunnel in Jinhae, then swept through the heart of South Gyeongsang Province in a door-to-door blitz that ran late into the night. He visited the Gimhae five-day market in the morning to gauge grassroots sentiment before shifting his focus to the Changwon area in the afternoon.

"What South Gyeongsang Province needs right now is not a mere caretaker governor, but a capable governor who can bring in large-scale national projects and budgets to change the future," Kim said. He highlighted past achievements — including the Gadeokdo New Airport, Jinhae New Port and the West Gyeongnam KTX line — to argue that "someone who has done it before can get it done again." He also laid out a vision to restore the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang megacity project, pursue a second round of public institution relocations and develop an aerospace and industrial belt, all through close cooperation with the Lee Jae-myung administration.

After greeting evening commuters at the Homeplus intersection in Changwon's Uichang District and stopping by Yongji Lake Park, Kim held a "final rally" at the Changwon City Hall intersection at 8:30 p.m., urging voters to turn out. "We are one vote short of changing South Gyeongsang Province," he said. He wrapped up his campaign at Changwon Jungang Station at 11 p.m.

Park structured his final day around an intensive circuit of the four districts under Changwon — Masan Happo, Masan Hoewon, Uichang and Seongsan. The strategy was to shore up his strongholds and drive up both turnout and vote share.

"This election is about restoring checks and balances in the Republic of Korea," Park said at his rallies, calling on voters to prevent any single party from monopolizing local power. Taking aim at his rival, he said that unlike "a candidate who only moves his address at election time," he had lived in South Gyeongsang Province his entire life and was "the working governor candidate who knows best what this province needs." Park also pointed to achievements from the current provincial administration — including securing the Korea AeroSpace Administration in Sacheon and winning a preliminary feasibility study exemption for a physical AI project — and pledged to lead a great leap forward for the province through aerospace industry development and an AI transformation of manufacturing.

After canvassing Changwon throughout the afternoon, Park held a "finale rally" at Sangnam Fountain Plaza in Seongsan District, the city's commercial center, at 7:30 p.m. "If local power tilts entirely to one side, checks and balances collapse," he said, making a final appeal for votes.