Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Busan's Buk-A by-election shows close race between former presidential aide, ex-PPP leader
In the left photo, Ha Jung-woo, ruling Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Busan's Buk-A constituency parliamentary by-election, appeals for support during his final campaign rally at Gupo Bridge intersection in Busan, Tuesday. In the right photo, independent candidate Han Dong-hoon watches the exit poll results at his campaign office in northern Busan, Wednesday evening. The two are locked in a neck-and-neck race, according to exit polls. Yonhap
By Anna J. Park
Ha Jung-woo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and independent candidate Han Dong-hoon are locked in a neck-and-neck race in the parliamentary by-election for Busan's Buk-A constituency, according to an exit poll released 6 p.m. Wednesday by the country's three major broadcasters.
In the joint exit poll conducted by KBS, MBC and SBS, Ha held a narrow lead with 42.6 percent of the vote, while Han garnered 41.6 percent, within the margin of error ranging from 1.7 to 4.1 percentage points, with a 95 percent confidence level.
Park Min-shik of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) gained 15.8 percent.
The constituency emerged as one of the most closely watched battlegrounds in the parliamentary by-elections, which were held alongside the local elections, seen as a duel between Han and Ha that could play a role in shaping the country’s political landscape.
Ha was the inaugural senior presidential secretary for artificial intelligence (AI) and future planning. While overseeing the Lee Jae Myung administration's AI strategy, the Busan native joined the DPK's race following repeated calls by the party's leadership, which sought to recruit professionals and technocrats to run in the elections.
Before joining the presidential office, Ha led the development of HyperCLOVA X, Naver’s large language AI model. Throughout the campaign, the former tech expert argued that Busan should position itself at the forefront of Korea’s AI-driven economy.
Han was a former PPP leader, but often clashed with hard-line, far-right members of the party, especially after former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law fiasco in December 2024. Following disputes, the party's current leadership expelled him in January over allegations that his family members criticized Yoon on an internal party bulletin board.
If Han, who has labeled himself as a "reasonable conservative" figure, wins the election, it will deal a serious blow to the PPP leadership. Ha had led opinion polls at the beginning of the race, but some latest polls showed Han had pulled ahead.
To defeat Ha, some conservative supporters had called on Han and Park to unite for a single candidacy. Some PPP members even said the party should allow Han to rejoin the party if he gave up his candidacy for Park.
Park, however, ruled out any possibility of a merger, even having his head shaved in a symbolic gesture to finish the race and declaring that "there is zero chance" of unification. Han likewise chose to pursue an independent path in the final stretch of the race.
The joint exit poll by KBS, MBC and SBS was conducted between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on 108,727 voters at 615 polling stations across the country using a systematic method in which every fifth voter leaving a polling station was selected for questioning.
Meanwhile, a separate survey conducted by JTBC showed Han with 48.1 percent support, comfortably ahead of Ha, who received 37.6 percent.