Busan North District Candidates Clash Over Erroneous Regional GDP Figures

Ha Jung-woo, the Democratic Party candidate for the Busan Buk-gu (A) National Assembly by-election, has faced criticism for presenting per capita regional Gross Domestic Product (GRDP) figures that differ from reality during a pledge announcement. GRDP is an indicator representing the scale of economic activity in a specific region, and per capita GRDP is calculated by dividing it by the population.

People Power Party candidate Park Min-sik claimed that the 120 million won figure presented by candidate Ha was significantly inflated compared to actual data, calling it "fake statistics." Park argued that Ha Jung-woo does not understand Buk-gu properly. He pointed out that Busan's per capita GRDP is around 34 million won, and even the top industrial city of Ulsan has a per capita GRDP of about 85 million won, suggesting that the 120 million won figure cited by Ha is a "ghost number that doesn't exist anywhere in South Korea."

Independent candidate Han Dong-hoon also criticized Ha's statistical error, denouncing the presentation of unverified figures as pledges as an act of deceiving residents.

Ha Jung-woo's campaign team has apologized for the statistical error. The escalating criticism between the ruling and opposition candidates over this GRDP error is seen as potentially impacting the discussions for candidate consolidation ahead of the April 17th deadline for the Busan Buk-gu (A) by-election.