Rival parties vow victory with 100 days left before elections

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Rival parties vow victory with 100 days left before elections

Published: 01 Jan. 2024, 17:29 Updated: 01 Jan. 2024, 17:35

Left, Han Dong-hoon, People Power Party's interim leader, and Lee Jae-myung, Democratic Party leader, shows respect at the Memorial Tower at the Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak District, Seoul, on Monday. [NEWS1]

With just 100 days remaining before the parliamentary elections, Korea's two biggest political parties — the People Power Party (PPP) and the Democratic Party (DP) — are promising victory.

The PPP's new interim leader, Han Dong-hoon, said Monday that the party will craft detailed policies that would help voters choose the PPP in the upcoming elections.

“I am confident that the people will distinguish the distinct difference between us and our rival parties based on our will and actions,” Han said during the party's New Year's ceremony.

Han emphasized the importance of a free democratic society achieved through a sense of fellow citizenship among strangers.
“It is the kind of fellow citizenship where a philanthropist provided his jjimjilbang [a bathhouse] to those in need during a disaster, the owner of Inspa World in Incheon offered shelter to residents of Yeonpyeong Island during the North Korean shelling, and strangers bravely assisted others during a random subway attack,” Han emphasized.

“Our party will undergo a transformation into one that acts on the fellowship of other people,” Han said. “The people will be able to trust our party as colleagues.”

Han's New Year's message resonated with an earlier statement he made upon stepping down from the role of Justice Minister to lead the PPP's emergency steering committee.

On Dec. 21, Han emphasized that the policies proposed by the PPP could be actualized through collaboration with the executive branch led by President Yoon Suk Yeol.

However, he said the promises made by the DP, which holds the majority seat in the National Assembly, were empty pledges.

As his first official duty on New Year's, he visited Seoul National Cemetery.

In the visitor's log, Han wrote, “To create a future for Korea with fellow citizens.”

The leader of the rival party, Lee Jae-myung, stated that his sole focus is on winning the upcoming elections.

“Urgency and desperation are the only things that I, Lee Jae-myung, and the DP have,” Lee said Monday. “Our sole duty is to protect the people and the country by absolutely winning the upcoming election.”

Lee criticized the Yoon government, citing numerous incidents and disasters in recent years, including the 2022 crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon area where 158 people lost their lives.

“The government had ignored them,” Lee asserted. “Those who lost everything due to housing rent fraud could do nothing but cry out against the injustice they suffered.”

He also highlighted the heightened tensions with North Korea as a critical issue.

“The livelihood of the people, peace, and even democracy are on the verge of collapse,” Lee said. “I can no longer allow the present, which has taken a huge step back, to continue.”

Lee visited Seoul National Cemetery as well. Lee wrote in the visitors' log, “I will not forget the noble sacrifices made by patriots.”

Lee unexpectedly met PPP chief Han in front of President Kim Dae-jung’s grave at Seoul National Cemetery, where they briefly exchanged greetings.

According to a recent Gallup Korea survey, the race between the two leading parties is tight.

In a poll of 1,017 adults conducted between Dec. 28 and Dec. 29, the PPP has a slight lead with 39 percent support, while the DP trails behind with 34 percent.

The Justice Party secured third place with only 4 percent support.

Respondents who were unsure about which party to support and independents reached 20 percent.

The competition between the two parties is particularly intense in Incheon and Gyeonggi, where both parties are tied with 37 percent support.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]