Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-yeol Face 'Weekend Showdown' in Honam and Yeongnam... Core Supporters Rally

Official Election Campaign on Friday and Saturday Weekend
Lee Jae-myung Targets Honam, Yoon Seok-yeol Focuses on Yeongnam
Core Supporters Rallying

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is appealing for support at the 'JM is Gangnam Style!' election campaign held near Gangnam Station in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 16th. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is waving to supporters at the "Yoon Seok-yeol Raised by the People" launch event held on the 15th at Cheonggye Plaza in Seoul. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporters Chae-eun Koo and Joon Lee Park] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Yoon Seok-youl, the candidate of the People Power Party, will visit their respective strongholds, Honam and Yeongnam, on the first weekend of the official election campaign.

Having spent weekdays expanding their support base by visiting regions with weak approval ratings, both candidates plan to focus on consolidating their core supporters in their stronghold areas over the weekend.

According to a compilation of reports on the 17th, Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party will hold regional rallies in Honam areas such as Gwangju and Jeonnam on Friday and Saturday. Yoon Seok-youl of the People Power Party will visit Daegu, Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam to solidify his voter base.

A People Power Party campaign official explained, "During weekdays, the candidate mainly visits large cities, and from Friday to Sunday, the traditional campaign strategy is to go to areas with a solid support base to rally supporters. This itinerary will be maintained throughout the campaign period." A Democratic Party campaign official also stated, "After visiting areas with low approval ratings such as Busan, Daejeon, and Daegu, and then Seoul, the candidate will move to areas with many traditional supporters over the weekend to court votes."

In reality, neither candidate has been able to secure overwhelming support in their respective strongholds. Given the expected close race, consolidating their support base is crucial.

According to a poll conducted by Realmeter commissioned by OhmyNews from the 6th to the 11th, Lee’s approval rating in the Gwangju and Jeolla regions stands at 61.8%. While this is strong, it is not yet considered overwhelmingly dominant in the Democratic Party’s traditional stronghold. Yoon’s approval rating in the Gwangju and Jeolla regions is 24.7%.

The Yeongnam region, where the People Power Party has many supporters, shows a similar pattern. Yoon’s approval ratings are 56.7% in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, and 46.5% in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam. Lee, who hails from Yeongnam, has approval ratings of 26% and 33.4% in these regions respectively. (Survey of 3,040 men and women aged 18 and over nationwide; margin of error ±1.8 percentage points at 95% confidence level; response rate 11.2%. Mixed methods including wireless phone interviews, wireless and wired automatic response. For details, refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.)

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