Candidates go all out for final stretch

In the left photo, Moon Jae-in, presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, consoles a resident in forest fire-damaged Gangneung, Gangwon Province, Sunday. Hong Joon-pyo of the Liberty Korea Party, center, receives a gift from a senior voter in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, ahead of Parents’ Day which falls today. Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party offers encouragement to a volunteer for the fire victims of an elementary school in Gangneung. / Yonhap

By Choi Ha-young

Presidential candidates went all out to woo voters in their final campaigning over the weekend. With the election only two days away, they crisscrossed the country to meet as many voters as they could.

On Sunday, four of the five main candidates rushed to Gangneung, Gangwon Province, where a large forest fire had broken out, to look into the victims’ losses and inspect disaster prevention systems. Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party, Yoo Seong-min of the Bareun Party and Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party made the trip.

The previous day, Moon, who led multiple opinion surveys through last week, attracted around 30,000 citizens on his “free hug” tour of Hongdae, Seoul, to keep his promise to hold the event if the early voting turnout surpassed 25 percent ― the final tally was 26.06 percent.

For the last few days, Ahn has sought to impress voters with his “campaigning on foot,” which was broadcast live on Facebook. He walked 13,488 steps Friday and 12,338 steps Saturday. After his visit to Gangneung Sunday, he continued walking in Seoul.

Ahn has been appealing to conservative voters who turned from him to Hong Joon-pyo of the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) according to last week’s polls.

Hong, who was on an upswing in the polls, visited the southern cities of Geoje, Tongyeong, Masan, Yangsan and Busan. This was his third visit to the Gyeongsang area, home turf of the conservatives, during the past week.

Aiming to gather far-right voters, the former South Gyeongsang governor is stepping up his ideological duel. “May 9 is the day to judge pro-North Korea groups,” he posted on Facebook, Sunday.

Hong’s conservative rival, Yoo, also headed to his home turf, Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, Sunday. Absenting 13 lawmakers who are seeking to rejoin the LKP, Yoo’s team is confident of turning the tables by attracting those who wish for a scrupulous and clean conservative force.

“The conservatives are likely to disperse to support Hong, Ahn and Yoo, which will consolidate Moon’s domination in the end,” Yongin University Professor Choi Chang-ryul said. “No palpable momentum occurred to undermine the existing ranking but two minor candidates ― Sim and Yoo ― will see their percentage rates grow slightly.”

Following her main support base, Sim reached out to young voters in campus towns. Right after her visit to Gangwon Province, she returned to the capital area. The previous day, she canvassed for the support of young voters in Gangnam and Hongdae with her 25-year-old son.

One last day for stumping

Today, Moon, the favorite to be the next president, will continue his campaign trail at Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, where tens of millions of people took to the streets calling for the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye last winter. At the symbol of grassroots democracy, he will declare his vision for the next administration.

The DPK candidate will close his campaign in Gangnam, Seoul’s richest area where the largest party has made meager progress. “We will show Moon’s determination to be backed evenly across the country,” one of his campaigners, Jun Byung-hun, said.

As an entrepreneur-turned-politician, Ahn chose the central city of Daejeon, which hosts science startups and laboratories, as his last spot. He will start the day in Gwanghwamun with his slogan: “People Always Win.”

Hong is planning his last campaign stop at Daehanmun Gate, the main gate of Deoksu Palace, central Seoul.

Sim, aiming at over 10 percent of the total support along with her growing popularity among the young, will make tour Seoul, including Sinchon and Noryangjin where many young people reside. Yoo’s camp is also considering touring crowded areas of Seoul.