Dalseong (constituency)

Dalseong, like all other constituencies located in the Daegu–Gyeongbuk region is widely considered a stronghold for the conservative People Power Party.^[1][2][3] Accordingly, Dalseong has always elected members of conservative political parties to represent the constituency in the National Assembly.^[4] The constituency has been represented by floor leader of People Power Party Choo Kyung-ho since 2016.^[5]

Former SsangYong Group CEO Kim Suk-won of the conservative New Korea Party was the first member to represent the constituency having won with 62.71% of the vote in the 1996 legislative election.^[6] However Kim resigned two years later in 1998 in order to return to the SsangYong Group as CEO.^[7][8] A by-election was held in 1998 between Park Geun-hye of the conservative Grand National Party and Eom Sam-tak of the centrist-liberal National Congress for New Politics, which saw Park win with 62.5% of the vote.^[6][9][10] Park won re-election in 2000 with 61.39% of the vote, once again defeating Eom Sam-tak of the Millennium Democratic Party.^[6] In the following election, Park won in a landslide with 70.03% of the vote.^[6] Park won re-election with a record 88.57% of the vote in 2008, receiving the second highest share of votes in the election.^[11] Park did not run for re-election in 2012, having previously taken over as acting leader of the Grand National Party in December 2011 via a party emergency committee.^[12] Former Dalseong County Mayor Lee Jong-jin succeeded Park, having garnered 55.63% of the vote.^[6] Ahead of the 2016 election, Lee announced that he would not stand for re-election.^[13] He was succeeded by Choo Kyung-ho, who had served as Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance and the Chairman of the Office for Government Policy Coordination under President Park Geun-hye.^[14][15] Choo won re-election to the seat in 2020 and 2024, with 67.33% and 75.31% of the vote respectively.^{[6][16][17][18]} Choo was the only member of the ruling People Power Party to receive more than 100,000 votes in the 2024 legislative election.^[19]

The constituency encompass the entirety of Dalseong County which includes the towns of Hwawon-eup, Nongong-eup, Dasa-eup, Yuga-eup, Okpo-eup, Hyeonpung-eup, and the townships of Gachang-myeon, Habin-myeon, and Guji-myeon. It borders the constituencies of Dalseo B, Jung–Nam, and Suseong B to the north, Goryeong–Seongju–Chilgok to the west, Miryang–Uiryeong–Haman–Changnyeong and Yeongcheon–Cheondo to the south, and Gyeongsan to the east.^[20]