4·15 General Election 'Relatively Quiet' First Weekend of Full-Scale Campaigning

Avoiding Election Campaigns Amid Crowds Due to COVID-19 Social Distancing

Fewer Jingles and Choreographed Movements Compared to Previous Elections... Replaced by Street Cleaning and Other Activities

The first weekend of the official campaign for the 21st National Assembly election began, but due to the impact of COVID-19, the campaign proceeded relatively quietly. The photo shows a campaign vehicle parked alone at an intersection in Buk-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, without any supporters.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Around 1 p.m. on the 4th, at an intersection where Cheomdan Yeonsin-ro and Cheomdan Yeonsin-ro 91 meet in Sinyong-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City.

This area has many apartment complexes nearby and is adjacent to Bitgoeul-daero, so one might expect campaign vehicles and election workers, but the atmosphere of the election period was hardly noticeable.

The only indication of the election campaign period was the campaign vehicle of candidate Lee Hyung-seok. Even this vehicle stood alone without any campaign staff or workers. On this day, the candidate focused his campaign on people taking walks in the park.

At Jungoe Park, due to the large number of people, he greeted from a distance to participate in the COVID-19 'social distancing' campaign and then left.

In the past, places crowded with many people would have been targeted more actively during campaign hours for efficiency, but due to COVID-19, the campaign did not proceed that way this time, according to a campaign staff member.

Around 4 p.m., the situation was similar at Yeonggwangtong Intersection in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, known for heavy traffic.

This place usually attracts many campaign vehicles during election periods, regardless of weekends or weekdays. Sometimes, campaign vehicles of different candidates stand side by side or face each other, with campaign workers competing through rhythmic movements.

However, on this day, there was only one campaign vehicle here, and there were no rhythmic movements by campaign workers.

Generally, during election campaigns, at busy intersections, campaign workers stand in front of campaign vehicles holding placards to promote the candidate and perform rhythmic movements to loudly played logo songs to attract attention.

Sometimes, multiple campaign vehicles from different camps gather at one intersection, competing by raising the volume of their logo songs, which annoys citizens, but this day was relatively quiet.

As the spread of COVID-19 shows no signs of subsiding, candidates vying for the eight gold badges in the Gwangju area conducted their campaigns relatively quietly compared to previous elections, even on the first weekend of campaigning.

Currently, leading candidates are solidifying their positions, and those chasing first place are focusing all efforts on promoting themselves, but due to concerns about COVID-19 spread, the campaigns were quiet yet each candidate devoted themselves to campaigning in their own way.

Candidate Kim Seong-hwan of Dongnam (Eul) met residents by visiting apartment complexes, shopping areas, and neighborhood corners without a fixed schedule. Rather than loudly playing logo songs and performing rhythmic movements during this chaotic COVID-19 period, he chose to meet residents one by one and listen to their difficulties.

Candidate Lee Byung-hoon also continued a relatively quiet campaign by visiting major roads and apartment complexes in the district rather than playing loud logo songs.

Candidate Yang Hyang-ja of Gwangju Seo-gu (Eul) also focused on greetings by traveling around various parts of the region instead of large-scale campaigning on the first weekend. When greeting from the campaign vehicle, campaign workers cleaned the surroundings.

Yang did not organize any rhythmic performers this time. Although a logo song was created, the policy was to refrain as much as possible to participate in the social atmosphere.

As such, with the ongoing impact of COVID-19, election campaigning is also undergoing changes.

A campaign staff member of one candidate said, “Compared to the local elections two years ago and the general elections four years ago, this was a really quiet first weekend of campaigning,” and added, “Campaigning that mainly involved playing logo songs and rhythmic movements at busy intersections is changing to align with the social atmosphere due to the current situation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.