Park, Moon court capital region in final countdown

With the election just two days away, South Korea's leading presidential candidates returned to the campaign trail Monday in a last-ditch effort to rally votes in the tightly contested race.

Front-runners Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party and Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party were both scheduled to visit the Gyeonggi Province surrounding Seoul as opinion polls indicated a neck-and-neck race in the region that is home to half the nation's voters.

Polls have generally revealed the largest number of swing voters were concentrated in the capital region. These undecided voters can determine who wins Wednesday's election.

The candidates hitting the campaign trail again took part in a final television debate held Sunday in which Park and Moon squared off over a number of social and welfare policy issues, including childcare, education, and science and technology.

Park, the 60-year-old daughter of late authoritarian President Park Chung-hee, is expected to kick off the day in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, which is regarded as a key battleground region, then start on a seven-stop trail across the Gyeonggi region. Gyeonggi has 9.35 million voters, that largest of any electoral region, with Seoul coming in second at 8.37 million.

Many of the stops are currently represented by an opposition lawmaker in parliament after the liberal candidates beat their conservative rivals in April's general elections. Still, the ruling party holds a majority in the National Assembly with 154 out of a total of 300 seats.

Moon, the 59-year-old former chief of staff to late President Roh Moo-hyun, started the day by attending a gathering of opposition supporters in Seoul.

"Democracy in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) has gotten into a desperately dangerous situation," he said. "The only thing that can save the Republic of Korea from this crisis is you, the people. Vote for a change in government, for change, for hope and for the future."

After meeting with voters in Seoul's financial district of Yeouido, Moon is scheduled to announce his education policy pledges at party headquarters and hit the campaign trail in Incheon, west of the capital, before heading to other cities in the Gyeonggi region. (Yonhap)