Analysis Lee Jae-myung Shows Signs of Distancing from Same-Party Candidate Yom Tae-young… Is He Drawing a Line Over 'Eliminating Corrupt Practices'?

Analysis is emerging that Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's gubernatorial candidate for Gyeonggi Province, is distancing himself from same-party candidate Yom Tae-young, the Suwon Mayor candidate, drawing attention.

The reason stems from the location of Lee Jae-myung's first official campaign rally.

On the 31st, the first day of his election campaign, Lee Jae-myung chose Paju in northern Gyeonggi Province, rather than Suwon, the de facto capital of Gyeonggi Province, as the venue for his first official campaign rally.

This is the first time a strong gubernatorial candidate for Gyeonggi Province has begun his first official campaign rally in Paju in northern Gyeonggi rather than in Suwon, the center of Gyeonggi Province.

This is seen by many as being related to allegations about Yom Tae-young's family land spanning 17,000 pyeong, which has been gradually coming to light through various media outlets including KBS and SBS recently.

The reason is that Lee Jae-myung's trademark is known to be "helping the weak and eliminating corrupt practices," and land speculation using public office is considered the number one "corrupt practice" that Lee Jae-myung emphasizes should be eliminated.

Furthermore, with controversies mounting over offensive remarks about his sister-in-law, a criminal record, and issues related to actress Kim Bu-seon, analysts say that if Lee Jae-myung's image of "helping the weak and eliminating corrupt practices" is also weakened, he could lose the core momentum in this election.

Signs that Lee Jae-myung is distancing himself from Yom Tae-young were already detected at Yom's campaign office opening ceremony on the 19th of last month.

On that day, Yom raised his voice, placing Suwon Special Metropolitan City as his representative pledge for this Suwon mayoral election, but Lee Jae-myung, the gubernatorial candidate of the same party who should have supported it, did not mention the special metropolitan status even once in his congratulatory address.

The somewhat cool atmosphere between the two candidates in the election campaign draws even more attention because the two are known to have called each other "hyung" (older brother) and "dongsaeng" (younger brother) in private and displayed special "brotherly affection" such as "10 years of joy and sorrow under the same banner."

It remains to be seen whether Lee Jae-myung will continue to distance himself from Yom Tae-young during campaign rallies in the Suwon area in the remaining 12 days of the campaign period.

Meanwhile, candidate Yom Tae-young, who has emphasized integrity, is facing criticism for showing no explanation regarding the 1.2 trillion won development plan adjacent to his own land and the Yom family's 17,000 pyeong of land, instead saying it is "not worth responding to," with opinions pouring in that he is disrespecting citizens.