Ex-President Park Geun-hye stumps for People Power Party candidates in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province on same day President Lee Jae Myung speaks during an Ocean Day ceremony held in Busan on Wednesday. (Yonhap) President Lee Jae Myung cast Busan and the broader southeast as the launchpad for South Korea’s next leap as a maritime power, invoking late conservative President Kim Young-sam in the city that formed the bedrock of Kim’s political career.Lee delivered his remarks at the annual Ocean Day ceremony held Wednesday in Busan, which has emerged as a key battleground ahead of the June 3 elections, as the ruling Democratic Party of Korea seeks to make inroads into the traditional conservative stronghold.Lee praised the establishment of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in 1996 under the Kim administration as “a powerful expression of the determination to transform the Republic of Korea into a maritime power.”“The people’s sovereignty government will accelerate the Republic of Korea’s powerful leap toward becoming the maritime power President Kim Young-sam envisioned,” Lee said, referring to South Korea by its official name.Lee mentioned Kim twice during the speech, in what appeared to be a politically symbolic gesture given Kim’s deep roots in Busan and enduring influence over the region’s conservative identity.Kim launched his political career in Busan, where he won seven of his nine National Assembly terms. Kim led pro-democracy struggles there during the authoritarian years, and his 1990 three-party merger reshaped the political landscape of Busan and South Gyeongsang Province into what ultimately became an electoral stronghold for the conservative camp.In his speech, Lee vowed to “realize the vision of a true maritime power right here in Busan and across the southeastern region.”“The southeastern region, as the Republic of Korea’s proud ‘southern maritime capital region,’ will develop higher, farther and more powerfully,” Lee said.Lee described development of the southeastern region as “both a survival strategy for enduring fierce global competition and the core of a balanced growth strategy that directly links the vision of a maritime power to jobs and regional vitality.”He touted the region’s “overwhelming potential,” pledging to turn it into a “maritime economic zone” by expanding logistics infrastructure linking ports, airports, railways and roads, while creating a large-scale maritime tourism belt spanning the country’s southern coast.Lee also declared that Busan would enter the “era of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.” As part of that initiative, he said the government would swiftly establish a maritime court, for which legislation has already been completed, while accelerating the creation of a maritime cluster that includes a southeastern regional investment corporation.Busan has emerged as one of the key battlegrounds in the June 3 local elections and by-elections, with Lee spending a second consecutive day in Busan.Lee visited the famed Jagalchi Market alongside first lady Kim Hea Kyung on Tuesday, meeting merchants and speaking with residents while touring shops and purchasing seafood.On Wednesday, conservative former President Park Geun-hye campaigned in Busan and South Gyeongsang Province alongside main opposition People Power Party candidates. She appeared at a market in Jinju with Park Wan-soo, People Power Party candidate for the South Gyeongsang gubernatorial race, and Jinju mayoral candidate Han Kyung-ho.Later in the day, Park was scheduled to support candidates in Ulsan and Busan, including a visit to Gijang Market in Busan with Busan mayor candidate Park Heong-joon.Park had largely refrained from public political activity following her 2017 impeachment over the corruption scandal that ended her presidency. However, since launching campaign appearances at a traditional market in Daegu last week, she has expanded her support tour across conservative strongholds, including the central Chungcheong region.