In the 6·3 local election for Daegu mayor, former prime minister Kim Boo-kyum, who ran as the Democratic Party of Korea candidate, was defeated on the 4th. He presented himself as the ruling party candidate who would revive the economy of Daegu, but he could not surmount the wall of conservative consolidation triggered by the Democratic Party push for the ‘special counsel bill to cancel indictments‘ and other moves. Although he failed to make new history by becoming the first Democratic Party mayor of Daegu, many assess that by waging an unusual nail-biter in Daegu, known as the heart of conservatism, he opened cracks in entrenched regionalism.

According to the count that day, Kim won 45.05% of the vote and lost to People Power Party candidate Chu Kyung-ho, who received 53.92%. Immediately after his defeat was confirmed, he said at his campaign office in Dalseo-gu, Daegu, “I fell short. I did not live up to expectations,” and added, “I humbly accept the election outcome given by the citizens.”

Kim added, “But this is my personal defeat, not a defeat for Daegu citizens who yearn for change.” He said, “Do not be discouraged. Do not despair. Let’s pat each other on the back for having come this far,” and continued, “I saw the possibility of a politics of service in which competition emerges in Daegu and the ruling and opposition parties try to serve citizens better.”

Born in 1958 in Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province, Kim graduated from Gyeongbuk High School and Seoul National University with a degree in political science. He entered politics in 1991 as a deputy spokesperson for the Democratic Party and, upon the 1997 merger between the Democratic Party and the New Korea Party, joined the Grand National Party. After Roh Moo-hyun was elected president, he left the Grand National Party along with former lawmaker Kim Young-choon and others to help launch the Uri Party, and the group was dubbed the ‘Five Eagles.’ He went on to win three consecutive terms in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province (the 16th, 17th, and 18th National Assemblies). He was regarded as a representative centrist within the Democratic Party, earning the nickname ‘Kim Bugyeol’ for conscience-driven votes unconstrained by the party line.

Kim later said he would “overcome the walls of regionalism” and moved his constituency to Suseong-gap in his hometown of Daegu. After defeats in the 2012 general election and the 2014 Daegu mayoral race, he staged an upset in his third attempt by defeating Saenuri Party candidate Kim Moon-soo in the 2016 general election. He served as the final prime minister under the Moon Jae-in administration and, after stepping down, announced retirement from politics. However, because of the symbolic status he holds in the Yeongnam region, calls to draft him never ceased, and with this local election he ran for office in Daegu for the fifth time.

During the campaign, Kim highlighted coordination with the Lee Jae Myung administration and actively played up his strengths as the ruling party candidate. He pledged to more than double the gross regional domestic product (GRDP) for Daegu, which has ranked last nationwide for 33 straight years, by converting stagnant manufacturing in the city to artificial intelligence, and he also promised swift resolution of the Daegu·North Gyeongsang administrative integration and the relocation of the integrated new airport. He argued that “only if Daegu abandons the People Power Party will a proper conservative party be formed,” framing the race as a judgment on the opposition.

Although polls during the campaign showed Kim and Chu locked in a neck-and-neck race within the margin of error, the actual count left him trailing by a wider-than-expected margin. Within the party, the analysis was that the push by the Democratic Party for the special counsel bill to cancel indictments ignited calls to check the Lee Jae Myung government, and that a courtesy visit to former president Park Geun-hye accelerated last-minute conservative consolidation. Even so, he recorded an unusually high vote share for a Democratic Party candidate, drawing assessments that he opened cracks in the political landscape in Daegu long monopolized by conservatives.