Moon expects March presidential election to bring hope for future

President Moon Jae-in speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, Dec. 21. Korea Times file

President Moon Jae-in said Saturday he expects the upcoming presidential election to bring hope for the future, with people set to vote in a tight race in March between two main candidates.

"An election to pick a new president lies ahead," Moon said in a New Year message posted on social media, adding he "expects an election that assures hope for the future, together with people."

The presidential election will be held March 9, and recent polls show that ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung has a lead over main opposition rival Yoon Suk-yeol.

Moon, whose single five-year term ends in May, said he will continue to spare no efforts to make 2022 a year to leap forward as a leading nation through the end of his term.

With the COVID-19 pandemic entering its third year, the President expressed his gratitude toward public health workers for their hard work in combating its spread.

He also thanked small merchants and self-employed people who have suffered economic pain from measures imposed to fight the pandemic.

Moon said, "I deeply thank anti-epidemic and medical workers for defending the anti-epidemic front line, small merchants and self-employed people for enduring difficulties, essential workers for supporting daily life and the people for thinking of the safety of their neighbors."

Tighter social distancing rules will be extended for another two weeks until Jan. 16 as the health authorities are grappling with a surge in critical cases amid concerns over the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus. (Yonhap)