Rival parties geared up their campaigns for the April 10 general elections Sunday, with the ruling People Power Party (PPP) calling for support for the current administration’s reform agenda and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) seeking to pass judgment on what it called its “incompetence.”
The quadrennial race holds significant importance for the PPP as failure to regain a majority could potentially render President Yoon Suk Yeol a lame duck for the remaining three years of his single five-year term. Meanwhile, the DP aims to retain its parliamentary majority.
This compilation image shows People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon (L) and Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung on the campaign trail. (Yonhap)
Up for grabs in the elections are 300 National Assembly seats, 254 of them directly contested seats and 46 proportional representation seats.
The PPP currently forecasts victory in 74 to 82 of the 254 constituencies, while the DP expects to win 110 or more. Of the 254, the PPP believes 50 will b
e closely contested races, while the DP puts the number at around 60, meaning neither party is certain of victory in 25 percent of all constituencies.
“The fact that there are many closely contested areas means there are still a lot of places where we have a chance,” a PPP campaign official told Yonhap News Agency.
A DP campaign official noted anything could happen in the remaining two weeks, with the wider capital area and the so-called Nakdong River Belt — comprising western Busan and eastern South Gyeongsang Province — appearing too close to call.
People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon (R) campaigns for Park Sang-soo, a candidate for the April 10 parliamentary elections, in Seo Ward, Incheon, on March 30, 2024. (Yonhap)
Observers say the ongoing doctors’ walkout over the government’s increase in medical school admissions will likely have a key impact on voter sentiment, while the overall turnout is also considered a factor determining the election outcome.
The PPP emphasized the Yoon administration
‘s inability to advance its reform agenda over the past two years, attributing it to the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
PPP leader Han Dong-hoon has also voiced the need to “block criminal forces from ruling over law-abiding citizens,” referring to DP leader Lee Jae-myung’s alleged corruption during his time as Seongnam mayor and Korea Innovation Party leader Cho Kuk’s alleged illegal involvement in his children’s college admissions.
Lee, meanwhile, has called for passing judgment on the Yoon administration for “ruining the country and betraying the people,” accusing it of mishandling a series of issues, including the appointment and later resignation of Ambassador to Australia Lee Jong-sup this month.
Overseas voting began Wednesday and will continue until Monday, with early voting scheduled for two days, starting Friday.
According to a Gallup Korea poll conducted on 1,001 people from Tuesday to Thursday, 40 percent of the respondents said more ruling party candidates should be elected, while 4
9 percent said more opposition candidates should be elected. The remaining 11 percent withheld their opinion.
The survey had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.
Source: Yonhap News Agency