Daegu’s political landscape is in turmoil as the June 3, 2026 local elections approach, with the city’s mayoral race turning into a battleground for party unity, personal ambition, and the future of regional governance. As the People Power Party (PPP) faces internal strife after cutting off prominent candidates from its primary, the Democratic Party’s Kim Bu-gyeom emerges as the surprising frontrunner, according to a recent poll. The drama has put the city’s conservative establishment under the microscope, raising questions about strategy, loyalty, and the broader implications for Daegu and Gyeongbuk’s administrative future.
On April 15, 2026, National Assembly member Joo Ho-young, a veteran lawmaker who was excluded from the PPP’s Daegu mayoral primary, revealed he has "somewhat decided" whether to run as an independent. But, as he told SBS’s Kim Tae-hyun’s Political Show, he’s not ready to commit publicly: “I avoid confirming my independent candidacy because I want to focus attention on the party’s nomination issues. If I say yes or no, the spotlight shifts away from the real problems.” Joo’s comments, echoed in multiple interviews and press releases, highlight a party riven by controversy over its candidate selection process.
The PPP’s nomination committee, which refused to restore the original eight-person primary lineup, has drawn fire from Joo and his supporters. “According to the party rules, if the six current candidates agree, restoring the original lineup is still possible,” Joo insisted. He argued the party is risking defeat by sidelining its most competitive candidates: “We need to select a candidate with strong competitiveness, but by cutting off the top two in the polls, we’re left with weaker contenders.”
Joo’s frustration with the party leadership doesn’t stop there. He criticized PPP leader Jang Dong-hyuk for proposing that former Broadcasting and Communications Commissioner Lee Jin-sook run in a by-election. “If you want to use someone in that way, you shouldn’t resolve it with a cut-off. You should coordinate and assign roles in advance. The party leader doesn’t have the authority to hand out by-elections as consolation,” Joo said, according to Daegu Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation. He also lambasted Jang’s decision to travel to the United States just 50 days before the election, saying, “All the media and the public are wondering why he went, and why he’s staying so long. People are angry, and the criticism is unanimous.”
Inside and outside the PPP, opinions on Joo’s potential independent run are sharply divided. As he explained on SBS Radio, “Half say I should restrain myself for the sake of party unity, while the other half, seeing the public’s anger, insist I must run as an independent.” The stakes are high: a split conservative vote could hand the mayoralty to the opposition, a scenario Joo is acutely aware of. He also weighed in on the PPP’s internal decisions in other regions, urging the party to consider non-competition pacts to avoid vote splitting that could benefit the Democratic Party. “If we fight amongst ourselves, only the Democratic Party and the Lee Jae-myung administration will benefit,” he warned.
The PPP’s troubles have not gone unnoticed by its rivals. Former Prime Minister Kim Bu-gyeom, running as the Democratic Party candidate, has surged ahead in the polls. According to a Korea Research survey commissioned by KBS Daegu Broadcasting and released on April 15, Kim leads hypothetical head-to-head matchups against both Lee Jin-sook (44% to 26%) and Joo Ho-young (44% to 16%). In multi-candidate scenarios, Kim maintains a commanding 39-40% support, far outpacing any PPP hopefuls. Even the PPP’s strongest candidate, former floor leader Chu Kyung-ho, only musters 18% in the party’s own suitability poll, with most others languishing in the low single digits. The poll, conducted from April 11 to 13 among 1,000 Daegu residents, carries a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
Amid this upheaval, Choi Eun-seok, another PPP mayoral contender, is calling for urgent unity. On April 15, Choi declared that after the primary, “candidate unification and one team formation” must be the top priority to prevent conservative division. He emphasized that bringing together cut-off figures like Joo Ho-young and Lee Jin-sook is not just beneficial but “essential and symbolic for conservative integration.” Choi promised, “If I am chosen as the final candidate, I will immediately seek to unite with Joo Ho-young and Lee Jin-sook to prevent voter loss due to the aftermath of the primary.”
Choi also made a bold pledge: if he is confirmed as the PPP’s mayoral candidate, he will resign his National Assembly seat before April 30. This move would force a by-election to coincide with the mayoral vote, a strategic calculation aimed at minimizing the party’s loss of parliamentary seats. Local analysts see Choi’s push for unity as a bid to preempt post-primary discord and attract undecided voters, according to reporting by Daegu Ilbo.
But the political drama doesn’t end with candidacies and polling numbers. Joo Ho-young has also taken aim at the collapse of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk administrative integration special law, blaming the ruling party’s “election calculations” for its failure in the National Assembly. “The integration, which we’ve pushed for over seven years, was ultimately nullified by political maneuvering that favored the Democratic Party,” he said in a press release. Joo accused Democratic candidate Kim Bu-gyeom and others of opportunism, questioning their sincerity in supporting integration. “When the law was blocked in the judiciary committee, where were you?” he asked pointedly. For Joo, the integration was a last-ditch effort to stem youth outflow and regional decline in the face of Seoul’s dominance, and he promised Daegu-Gyeongbuk residents, “I will fight with you to the end.”
Joo’s criticisms extend to both sides of the aisle. He challenged fellow politicians, “Those who only speak up after the train has left the station should ask themselves if their voices are truly for Daegu-Gyeongbuk or just for their own seats and elections.” He also revealed that on March 9, he sent a letter to President Lee Jae-myung, urging that Daegu-Gyeongbuk’s integration be realized, arguing that all legal requirements had been met.
As Daegu’s mayoral race heats up, the PPP’s internal rifts and the opposition’s rising fortunes set the stage for a contest that’s as much about the city’s identity and future as it is about party politics. With unity efforts on one side and a surging challenger on the other, the outcome could reshape not only Daegu’s leadership but also the broader conservative movement in the region.
In a city long considered a conservative stronghold, the coming weeks promise high drama—and perhaps, a few surprises yet.