Minseok Kim "Citizens will decide"... Gangneung raises 'No fault theory' for next year's by-election

(Gangneung·Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Jeong-jin and Jeong Yeon-sol = Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said on the 20th in relation to the Gangneung National Assembly by-election in Gangwon-do next April, "There will be a judgment by citizens about the responsibility and cause for the by-election."

Representative Kim met with reporters after touring the '2026 Gangneung Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) World Congress' held at the Gangneung Speed ​​Skating Stadium on this day and said, "I think there will be a judgment on the line that elected the mayor of Gangneung, 'Shouldn't there be a change in leadership for the development of Gangneung?'"

Representative Kim's remarks raised the theory that the People Power Party is to blame for the Gangneung by-election.

In Gangneung, a by-election will be held on April 7 next year as former People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Seong-dong was sentenced to prison on charges of receiving 100 million won in illegal political funds.

During the August 17th national convention, Representative Kim said that he could lead the Gangneung by-election to victory and said, "I will ask the party members for their confidence in the results."

As a way to target Gangneung's public sentiment, he emphasized, "Rather than approaching it as a strategy for the election, I will take care of various projects that Gangneung is focusing on, including autonomous driving-related technology, step by step and talk with citizens to solve them," and added, "I will continue to visit and listen to the opinions of citizens in the future."

Earlier, CEO Kim toured the exhibition booths of major companies at the ITS general meeting and took a first-hand look at future mobility technologies such as vehicles equipped with remote driving technology and parking robots. I also test drove an unmanned self-driving car without a driver's seat.

Regarding the ITS World Congress being held in Gangneung, CEO Kim said, "Korea has created an opportunity to gather and discuss cutting-edge unmanned autonomous driving technology from around the world. I think it is also good in that Gangneung will serve as an opportunity to continue to lead and symbolize the development of autonomous driving technology."

This is Representative Kim's second visit to Gangneung since taking office as party leader.

Separately from this, on the 14th of last month, a top-level meeting and the Gangwon Budget Policy Council were held in Chuncheon, Gangwon, near Gangneung.