Lee, Kim make final sprint to Election Day

Democratic Party (DP) candidate Lee Jae-myung and People Power Party (PPP) candidate Kim Moon-soo made their final sprint to woo swing voters Monday, a day before the presidential election.

Lee of the DP, the campaign’s front-runner, kicked off the last day of his campaign in Seoul’s northern ward of Gangbuk before making stops in the neighboring cities of Hanam, Seongnam and Gwangmyeong.

“Your vote can change history and protect our democracy,” Lee said during a press conference in Seongnam, widely considered as his political hometown, where he served two consecutive terms as mayor from 2010 to 2018.

He emphasized his deep ties to the city, noting it was where he endured hardship and nurtured his dreams as a teenage factory worker and later made social change as a civic activist.

“I promise to shape the future of South Korea together with the people, starting from my political hometown of Seongnam,” he added.

Lee later returned to the capital, campaigning in Gangseo Ward in Seoul, and held his final rally in Yeouido Park, the center of South Korea’s politics and home to the National Assembly, before wrapping up his day with a live broadcast on YouTube. Tens of thousands of supporters gathered for the final outdoor campaign stop, waving blue balloons.

Lee recalled the night of the Dec. 3 martial law declaration, appealing voters “to end the insurrection through voting.”

“Voting, the ultimate weapon of those who hold sovereignty, is the most powerful weapon to end insurrection,” Lee emphasized, adding that “voting is mightier than bullets.”

On the evening of former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s surprise declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, Lee and other lawmakers rushed to the National Assembly to lift the martial law, despite being blocked by the police.

At his campaign stop in Gangbuk earlier in the day, he stressed the need to safeguard democracy from what he called “insurrection forces” and hold them accountable.

Kim of the PPP started the day by visiting the Peace Park on the southern island of Jeju to pay tribute to the victims of the Jeju April 3 uprising. He then held campaign rallies in Busan, Daegu and Daejeon to shore up last-minute support.

In Busan, Kim apologized for Yoon’s imposition of martial law and pledged to push forward bold reforms with the PPP if elected.

He further expressed regret over failing to reach a candidacy merger with Lee Jun-seok of the minor conservative New Reform Party (NRP).

“Voting for Lee Jun-seok will only benefit Lee Jae-myung,” he said, urging voters to support him instead.

Kim held his final rally at the grass plaza in front of Seoul City Hall, a location chosen for its symbolic significance, where ordinary citizens have historically gathered to raise their voices, according to a campaign official.

Appearing with his wife, daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren, he knelt down and bowed deeply toward supporters as he urged them to vote for him and repeated his accusations of a “monstrous dictatorship” against Lee.

After the rally, Kim was to greet voters in the youth-populated districts of Hongdae and Gangnam until midnight in a final effort to appeal to young voters.

Lee of the NRP plans to meet with university students in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, while Kwon Young-kook of the minor Democratic Labor Party will campaign across Seoul, highlighting issues related to labor, disability rights and gender equality.

The latest poll on the election showed the DP’s Lee in the lead at 49.2 percent, followed by Kim of the PPP with 36.8 percent. Lee Jun-seok came in third with 10.3 percent support.

South Korea will elect a new president Tuesday after Yoon was ousted over his short-lived imposition of martial law.