By Chung Min-uck
Leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) went to their party’s stronghold regions Friday to consolidate support for the April 11 National Assembly elections.
Han Myeong-sook, chairwoman of the DUP, visited the southwest of the country, traditionally home to liberal voters, including the city of Gwangju.
Her visit coincided with the rise of a conservative candidate in the liberals’ home turf.
Rep. Lee Jung-hyun of the Saenuri Party, a confidant of Rep. Park Geun-hye, is in a neck-and-neck race with his rival Oh Byung-yun in Gwangju’s Seogu B district.
The heated race is a phenomenon as conservative party candidates had never won in previous elections there, finding it hard to garner support in double digits.
Recent surveys also showed that several ruling party and independent candidates are in close races. The poll results worried DUP strategists.
A DUP insider, referring to the survey, said it could lose up to five seats on its home turf.
The southwest region has 30 parliamentary seats out of 246.
Meanwhile, the Saenuri Party’s interim chairwoman Rep. Park Geun-hye visited Seoul for campaign speeches and then went on to Busan.
It is her fifth visit to the second largest city since she took the helm of the party’s leadership again.
Busan, a conservatives’ stronghold, has drawn attention as Moon Jae-in, a DUP candidate having served as a former presidential chief of staff under the late former Roh Moo-hyun government, topped public opinion polls.
The liberal party candidate is ahead of his Saenuri Party rival by a double-digit margin.
Surveys indicated the DUP may be able to garner three parliamentary seats on the conservatives’ home turf.