Anchor: Rival parties have been focusing their campaigns in the “Nakdong River Belt,” a region in the country’s southeast that is once again an important battleground for the upcoming general elections. With the April 10 vote less than two weeks away, today's installment of our report series on the regional political landscape zeroes in on key areas in South Gyeongsang and North Gyeongsang. Yun Sohyang has more.
 
Report:
 
[Sound bite: People Power Party(PPP) Rep. Kim Tae-ho campaigning for Yangsan B district on March 26] 
“Kim Tae-ho! Kim Tae-ho!”
 
Ruling and opposition parties are going all out in the North and South Gyeongsang provinces with the April 10 general elections fast approaching.
 
[Sound bite: Democratic Party(DP) Rep. Kim Doo-kwan campaigning for Yangsan B district on March 25]
“Kim Doo-kwan! Kim Doo-kwan!”
 
Political science professor Benjamin Thompson at Kyungpook National University in North Gyeongsang Province says the so-called “Nakdong River Belt” area, situated in the country’s southeast, may hold the key to securing the parliamentary majority.
 
[Sound bite: Prof. Benjamin Thompson – Dep’t Pol. Sci., Kyungpook Nat’l University]
“Although the Nakdong River Belt near Busan, which includes nine districts — some of them are in western and northwestern Busan and some of them are in parts of South Gyeongsang next to Busan, including places like Gimhae and Yangsan — they’ve been especially competitive and so we have some real battlegrounds there. If the elections end up reasonably close, then that could really matter in terms of counting up how seats are allocated and whether we will see coalition governments in the national assembly."
 
Among the districts in the Nakdong River Belt, the Yangsan B district is arguably the most fiercely contested.
 
[Sound bite: PPP Rep. Kim Tae-ho campaigning for Yangsan B district on March 26]  
 
The People Power Party’s Kim Tae-ho, who won seven out of eight general and local elections, is taking on incumbent Kim Doo-kwan from the Democratic Party. Both have served as South Gyeongsang governor.
 
[Sound bite: DP Rep. Kim Doo-kwan campaigning for Yangsan B district on March 25]

Conservatives and liberals in the past have fought fiercely in the nine districts that border the Nakdong River, including in the 2020 general elections when the People Power Party(PPP) grabbed four seats and the Democratic Party(DP) won five. 

Prof. Thompson says the nation’s fourth largest city of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province are expected to form the conservative party’s support base.
 
[Sound bite: Prof. Benjamin Thompson – Dep’t Pol. Sci., Kyungpook Nat’l University]
"It’s not just that a number of conservative leaders prior to the democratic period are coming from the Daegu region or the North Gyeongsang region or even the South Gyeongsang region, but a number of conservative democratic leaders are coming from this area as well, including former presidents Roh Tae-woo, Lee Myung-bak in a way, Park Geun-hye are in this region."

It remains to be seen if the PPP will be able to maintain their success in their conservative stronghold next Wednesday. 
Yun Sohyang, KBS World Radio news.