SEOUL-- Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential nominee of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), met with representatives from the ruling party stronghold of Honam on Wednesday and pledged his support for the region as his campaign sought to widen his appeal among liberal voters.

Yoon attended a meeting organized by an association representing the southwestern city of Gwangju and the nearby South Jeolla Province, saying Honam feels like his "spiritual home."

Honam, which comprises Gwangju, South Jeolla Province and North Jeolla Province, is the traditional support base of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), while the conservative PPP enjoys consistent support in the southeastern Gyeongsang provinces.

"If I become president, I will make sure no one says Honam is being neglected," Yoon said. "I will turn the Gwangju and South Jeolla area into a completely new region by accelerating the digitalization of existing industries there and helping high-tech, new-growth businesses establish their roots."

Yoon recalled his time working as a prosecutor at the regional prosecutors office in Gwangju in the early 2000s and said he was so overcome with emotion when he left in 2005 that he could not finish his farewell speech.

Some of the participants at the meeting made a series of proposals, including the construction of additional hospitals in Honam.

Yoon responded that he will discuss the expansion of hospital facilities with the medical community.

Meanwhile, an official of Yoon's campaign told Yonhap News Agency that some supporters of DP heavyweights Lee Nak-yon and Chung Sye-kyun have expressed their displeasure with DP presidential nominee Lee Jae-myung and reached out to the opposition campaign. Both Lee Nak-yon and Chung competed with Lee Jae-myung in the DP presidential primary.

"We'll be having various exchanges at some point this week," the official said, noting there are also supporters of late former President Kim Dae-jung, a liberal icon, within what he described as a "considerable" emerging group.

Park Joo-sun, co-chair of Yoon's election committee who hails from Honam, said he senses a clear wind of change in favor of the PPP candidate.

"There are many opinion leaders in the (Honam) region who speak of the need to set the country right through a regime change," he told Yonhap.

On Tuesday, Yoon personally announced that Rep. Lee Yong-ho, an independent whose constituency is in North Jeolla Province, has joined the PPP. On Wednesday, the party appointed him co-chairman of the election committee.

Yoon's campaign aims to win 15-20 percent of the Honam vote in the March 9 presidential election, an ambitious goal when compared to the approximately 10 percent won by both former conservative Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye.

The recent developments come after Yoon raised the ire of Honam voters after saying in October that many people believe former President Chun Doo-hwan, who ordered a bloody crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju in 1980, did well in politics.

Yoon is considering making another trip to the Honam region this weekend, another campaign official said.

Source: Yonhap News Agency