Election campaigns begin with calls for 'punishment' and 'judgment'

General election 2024

Published: 28 Mar. 2024, 16:49 Updated: 28 Mar. 2024, 19:28

Election campaigns begin with calls for 'punishment' and 'judgment'

Left: Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung campaigns near Gyeyang Station in Incheon on Thursday. Right: People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon greets voters at Moraenae Market in Incheon on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Official campaigning kicked off across the country on Thursday, 13 days before a general election that both of Korea's major parties view as crucial to determining the country’s future and shaping President Yoon Suk Yeol's remaining time in office.

Except for the liberal Democratic Party (DP), all parties kicked off their campaigns at midnight, the official start of the 13-day period before polls open when campaigning is permitted under rules set down by the National Election Commission.

The conservative People Power Party (PPP) held a rally at Garak Market in Songpa District, southern Seoul, where leader Han Dong-hoon promised his party would “fight for hard-working people” if it wins a majority in the National Assembly.

The PPP leader later apologized for high inflation as he spoke to market vendors after his rally speech, vowing to “work hard” to address their concerns as he inquired about their working hours and the prices of fruits and vegetables on sale.

In his comments to reporters during a walk around the market, Han framed the upcoming election as one that “will set the course for the country’s destiny.”

While promising to enact political and economic reforms, the PPP leader called on voters to “punish” DP leader Lee Jae-myung and Korea Innovation Party chief Cho Kuk, who are separately campaigning against the Yoon administration.

Lee was indicted by prosecutors last year on charges of breach of duty, conflict of interest, corruption, bribery and concealment of criminal proceeds related to his time as mayor of Seongnam and governor of Gyeonggi, while Cho and his wife have been convicted of falsifying their children’s academic credentials to give them a leg up in university admissions.

Han also appeared at PPP campaign events in Seoul’s Yongsan, Seongdong, Gwangjin, Dongdaemun, Gangbuk, Dobong and Nowon districts, as well as the cities of Namyangju and Uijeongbu in Gyeonggi.

Meanwhile, Lee started his campaign tour with a morning speech in Incheon’s Gyeyang District, whose second electoral district he currently represents in the National Assembly.

The DP leader urged voters to repudiate the “arrogant and undemocratic” Yoon administration, which he accused of “misusing property and authority entrusted to it by the people,” referring to allegations that a planned motorway was rerouted to pass through an area with land owned by the family of first lady Kim Keon Hee before the project was scrapped.

The first lady has also been accused of inappropriately accepting a luxury Dior handbag as a gift from a Korean American pastor, inflating her professional accomplishments and being involved in a stock price manipulation scheme.

During his appearance at the launch ceremony for his party’s election committee at Yongsan Station in central Seoul later in the morning, Lee said it was "time for the people, who are the sovereign of this republic, to pass judgment against the Yoon Suk Yeol administration for ruining the country and betraying public trust.”

Lee also attended campaign events in Seoul’s Jung, Seongdong and Dongjak districts, which are expected to be fiercely contested in the election.

Lee Hae-chan, chairman of the party’s campaign committee, predicted during a Thursday radio interview that the DP’s emphasis on “passing judgment against the Yoon administration” will resonate with voters. He added that he believes the tide of the approaching election is with his party.

Recent polling suggests that the DP could win more than two-thirds of all seats in the 300-member National Assembly, allowing the party to override presidential vetoes and potentially rendering Yoon a lame duck for the rest of his term in office.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]