Last Day of Early Voting... 'Ruling and Opposition Parties' Efforts to Rally Supporters'

Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Seoul mayor (left), and Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayor (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Geum Bo-ryeong] On the last day of early voting for the April 7 by-elections, both ruling and opposition parties are making every effort to rally their support base over the weekend.

At 8 a.m. that day, Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party's candidate for Seoul mayor, headed to the Jayang 3-dong Community Center in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, to cast his vote. Oh had originally planned to vote on the 7th but changed his schedule to vote early that day.

After voting early, Oh told reporters, "I hope many Seoul voters take advantage of the Saturday holiday to vote early," adding, "Since the 7th is a weekday, I hope many people vote today."

Oh is also running a campaign encouraging early voting on social media. On his Instagram, seven posts from three days ago until 3 p.m. on the day were part of the 'Early Voting Encouragement Series.' That day, he included an online address where supporters could find early voting locations and appealed for their votes.

The People Power Party also emphasized early voting. Bae Jun-young, spokesperson for the party’s Central Election Committee, issued a statement saying, "If you have not voted yet, please be sure to visit a polling station today," adding, "If you don't vote, you cannot change anything." On the same day, Park Ki-nyung, deputy spokesperson for the Central Election Committee, said, "This is an election that can set the Republic of Korea right," and appealed once again to the public, "Please participate in this important election."

The ruling party also appears to be focusing on early voting to consolidate its support base. It is judged that workers, including those in their 40s who are typically core supporters of the Democratic Party of Korea, may find it difficult to attend the main vote on a weekday. Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party’s candidate for Seoul mayor, who completed early voting in Jongno the day before, wrote on her Instagram, "Thank you for the first day of early voting," emphasizing, "I have heard many concerns about Seoul being taken away again by liars. The only way to eliminate these worries is to vote."

On the same day, Park said, "The 7th is not a public holiday. Please make time today," and urged, "Please bring your ID and visit the nearest early voting station by 6 p.m. today." She added, "Please add your earnestness to Park Young-sun’s earnestness."

The Democratic Party’s official Instagram featured photos of party members of the National Assembly encouraging early voting from the previous day through that day, accompanied by hashtags such as 'VoteEarlyAndWork' and 'VoteEarlyAndRest.'

Additionally, Lee Nak-yeon, the election committee chairman, and Kim Tae-nyeon, the floor leader, will visit the campaign site in Busan to appeal for support for Kim Young-chun, the Democratic Party’s candidate for Busan mayor.

Meanwhile, according to the National Election Commission, as of 3 p.m. that day, out of 12,161,624 eligible voters nationwide, 2,045,133 participated in early voting, recording an early voting rate of 16.8%. Seoul recorded 17.72%, and Busan 15.86%.

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