By Lee Tae-hoon
With the election about 80 days away, three leading presidential contenders seem ready to make all possible efforts to turn the tide in their favor over the Chuseok weekend.
Rep. Park Geun-hye, standard bearer of the ruling Saenuri Party, went to her political home turf of Daegu Friday to solidify her support in the populous southeastern city.
She visited a community center for elderly in her former constituency of Dalseong in Daegu and a traditional market to reinforce her image as a politician with a vision for a welfare state.
Aides to the daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee said she plans to spend most of her time during the three-day-long national holidays, which stretch to Monday, to beef up support in her strongholds and recruit new members of her campaign team.
They pointed out that Park wants to rein in her supporters in regions that have favored her conservative party as there have been a growing signs that a significant number of them may vote for a liberal candidate this time.
“We need to restore our confidence by bolstering our support in our political strongholds,” a Saenuri lawmaker said.
Rep. Moon Jae-in, candidate of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), made a similar move by continuing his campaign rally in Gwangju, a political home turf of his liberal party.
He met with family members of victims of the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the populous southwestern city in an apparent attempt to highlight oppression that the country had to undergo under the past military regimes, including Park’s father’s 17 year iron-fist rule.
On Sunday, the human rights lawyer-turned politician plans to go to Bongha village in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province to pay his respects to the late President Roh Moo-hyun, a long-time friend and boss of Moon.
He served as the chief of the staff to Roh between 2007 and 2008.
Roh jumped to his death in his hometown of Bongha village in 2009 amid allegations that he and his family members were involved in a corruption scandal.
A spokesman to Moon said the DUP candidate will try to woo support from Roh followers and those disappointed with the conservative party’s abuse of authorities and pro-business policies.
Meanwhile, Ahn Cheol-soo plans to spend most of his time to sharpen his policy visions and recruit a range of experts to his campaign team.
An insider of Ahn’s camp said the software mogul-turned-politician will stay in Seoul during the Chuseok holiday to meet underprivileged people in the capital city.
She said Ahn’s campaign rallies will be focused on projecting his image as a presidential contender determined to address social injustice and a growing gap between the haves and have-nots.
Chuseok is a rare opportunity for voters to freely express their preferences on candidates with relatives.
Political experts say many of undecided voters will make up their mind to whom they will cast a ballot during the traditional holiday.