Seoul, Busan to select mayors
Park Young-sun, ruling Democratic Party of Korea's Seoul mayoral candidate in the April 7 by-elections, delivers a speech during a campaign at Jongno District, Tuesday, the last day of the 13-day official campaign period. Korea Times photo by Shin Hyun-chul
Parties, candidates engage in last ditch campaign
By Jung Da-min
Residents of the country's two major cities, Seoul and Busan, will select their new mayors in Wednesday's by-elections, which are receiving special attention nationwide.
This is not just because they include these mayoral elections, but because they also come less than a year before the next presidential election slated for March 2022.
The rival candidates supported by their political parties were engaged in last-minute campaigns in Seoul and Busan, Tuesday, the last day of the 13-day official campaign period, in attempts to win over swing voters
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) focused on attacking the mayoral candidates of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), accusing them of engaging in improper real estate deals in the past using their then political influence. Meanwhile the PPP has been stressing the need to deliver a judgment on the government's performance, especially on its failed real estate policies.
DPK Seoul mayoral candidate Park Young-sun started her last day campaigning early in the morning by taking the No. 6411 local bus in Seoul's Guro District, whose service time starts at 4 a.m. every morning, earlier than other buses. The No. 6411 bus, which usually transports so-called “essential workers” including cleaners who start their daily work earlier than others, has often been cited in campaigns by the country's liberal bloc to promote the rights of the socially vulnerable.
Park then visited the Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market to meet vendors and small business owners there.
Oh Se-hoon, the main opposition People Power Party's Seoul mayoral candidate in Wednesday's by-elections, delivers a speech during a campaign in Gwangjin District, Tuesday, the last day of a 13-day official campaign period. Joint Press Corps
The PPP's Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon was also engaged in last ditch efforts to appeal to voters, visiting nine different districts in Seoul's northern regions, whose residents have often shown support for candidates of the liberal bloc in past elections, throughout the last day of campaigning.
Joining Oh on the last day of campaigning were former four-term PPP lawmaker Na Kyung-won, who had competed with Oh to win the party's ticket for the mayoral election, and the conservative minor opposition People Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo, who had competed with Oh to become a single unified opposition candidate after the PPP's primary.
In Busan, Kim Young-choon of the DPK and Park Heong-joon of the PPP were also engaged in a fierce competition with both candidates staging overnight rallies on the last two campaigning days from Monday to Tuesday.
On election day, polling booths are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 3,459 stations in regions where by-elections are being held, including Seoul and Busan. Some smaller cities and counties are also selecting their local government heads and council members.
Unlike the early voting which was available at any polling station, votes can only be cast at designated polling stations in residential district.
People who are under self-quarantine after coming into contact with COVID-19 can cast their votes after 8 p.m. after getting approval from health officers in charge of monitoring them.
In the two-day early voting last Friday and Saturday, record-high numbers of voters participated, with about 2.49 million out of the 12.16 million eligible casting their ballots for a turnout of 20.54 percent.