Parties make last appeal to public for votes

Democratic Party of Korea Gyeonggi Province governor candidate Kim Dong-yeon, left, meets citizens at a traditional market in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, and People Power Party candidate Kim Eun-hye meets citizens at Yatap Station in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Yonhap

Gyeonggi Province emerges as key battleground

By Nam Hyun-woo

Rival parties on Tuesday made their last pitches to appeal to the hearts and minds of voters across the country to turn out and cast their ballots for them in Wednesday's local and by-elections.

Polls have shown that the ruling People Power Party (PPP) candidates are leading in nine out of 17 posts for governors and mayors of provinces and metropolitan cities.

On the other hand, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which had swept the previous local elections held four years ago, is casting a pessimistic outlook. It has set up a realistic goal of taking five of the 17 posts. During the local elections, voters will also select city council members and educational superintendents.

People Power Party floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, right, speaks during a campaign speech for the party's Gyeonggi governor election candidate Kim Eun-hye, second from left, at Yatap Station in Seongnam, Tuesday. From left are lawmaker candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, Kim, and Seongnam mayoral candidate Shin Sang-jin. Joint Press Corps

On Tuesday, a day before the election, parties focused on battlegrounds ― such as Gyeonggi Province, Jeju Island, Sejong and Daejeon ― and encouraged their traditional supporters to turn out to vote for them.

PPP floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong and local election campaign committee head Kim Gi-hyeon visited Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, to assist PPP candidate Kim Eun-hye in her campaign for Gyeonggi Province governor.

“If President Yoon's most trusted candidate Kim is elected as governor, the central government and the provincial government will join hands to make the province a special one,” Kweon said during his speech at Yatap Station in Seongnam.

Kim has faced a tough race against DPK candidate Kim Dong-yeon. In the latest surveys, the PPP's Kim was trailing behind the DPK's Kim within the margin of error.

Their showdown bears importance because Gyeonggi Province is the largest and most populous province in Korea. Until last year, the governor of the province was Lee Jae-myung, who unsuccessfully ran for president earlier this year on the DPK ticket, and is now running in a by-election for a National Assembly seat in Incheon.

“This election is about handing down judgment to the arrogant DPK, and our victory in the elections completes the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration,” campaign head Kim said.

The National Election Commission (NEC) said Monday that Kim had omitted approximately 1.6 billion won of her husband's real estate property and securities when making a mandatory report on her wealth as a candidate.

While aides to PPP candidate Kim said it was a “mistake,” the DPK slammed her, saying she should drop her candidacy and be punished for violating election laws.

“More than 2 million voters in Gyeonggi Province cast their ballots in early voting not knowing her lies, and this is a crime that infringes on the people's suffrage,” the DPK's co-interim chief Yun Ho-jung said Tuesday.

Unlike other PPP leaders, the party's Chairman Lee Jun-seok visited Jeju Island and held a press conference to denounce Lee Jae-myung, running for an Assembly seat in Incheon's Gyeyang B district, over his campaign pledge to move Gimpo International Airport, which serves as a key airport for tourists visiting Jeju Island from Seoul.

“The DPK claims there will be no changes in tourist influx to the island after the shutdown of the Gimpo airport, but that is nonsense,” PPP Chairman Lee said, adding that the DPK's Jeju governor candidate Oh Young-hoon remains ambivalent about DPK candidate Lee's pledge.

Democratic Party of Korea interim chief Rep. Yun Ho-jung, center, waves to citizens during a rally to support the party's Sejong mayoral candidate Lee Choon-hee, right, near the Government Complex in the city, Tuesday. Yonhap

On the other hand, DPK co-interim chiefs Yun and Park Ji-hyun visited Sejong and Daejeon, two central cities which are considered swing regions.

The DPK has been asking the public to vote for its candidates to maintain the “least amount of political balance” to prevent the country from being dominated by prosecutors. Yoon was the former prosecutor general and prosecutors are vying for top government jobs in the wake of his inauguration.

During his speech in Sejong, Yun criticized Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon for allowing the justice ministry to vet presidential appointments. Han is a former prosecutor and a long-time colleague of the president.

“This will empower the justice ministry to vet not only public officials but also the chief justice and constitutional judges,” Yun said. “This was the power of the president, but the justice ministry is now having this authority.”

The results of the local elections will have different meanings, depending on which party will win. If the PPP dominates the elections, Yoon, who took office on May 10, will be able to push for his policies. But the impact will be limited as the DPK controls 163 seats in the 300-member National Assembly.

Voting begins Wednesday from 6 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m. at 14,465 polling centers across the country. COVID-19 patients and those in quarantine will be allowed to vote between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Including 17 mayoral and gubernatorial posts, the local elections will select representatives for 4,125 elective jobs such as governors, mayors, metropolitan and provincial council heads and members, education office superintendents and members of lower-level local councils. Also, voters of seven constituencies will cast ballots for candidates running in by-elections.

There are more than 44.3 million eligible voters, including 127,623 foreign nationals who have been residing in Korea for more than three years after earning permanent residency. The turnout for early voting held from Friday to Saturday stood at 20.62 percent, the highest for any local election.