Again Targeting the Seoul Metropolitan Area, Lee's Determined Resolve to Win in Battlegrounds... On Yoon, "Feels Like Talking to a Wall"

Undervaluation of Yesterday's TV Debate... "It Was Too Disorderly"
On the 22nd, Campaigning in Incheon and Ansan, Gyeonggi
Considered a 'Public Sentiment Barometer' in Past Presidential Elections
Emphasizing 'Practical Reforms for People's Livelihood' Beyond Left-Right Ideologies, and a Competent President

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, launched a campaign targeting undecided voters through concentrated rallies in the Seoul metropolitan area. Following three consecutive days of rallies in Seoul immediately after the official start of the election campaign on the 15th, he spent the past weekend completing his schedule in Hwaseong, Suwon, and Anyang, Gyeonggi-do, his main base. On the 8th day of campaigning, he plans to continue his confidence in his stronghold by touring Incheon and Ansan, Gyeonggi-do.

After focusing solely on the presidential candidate TV debate the previous day, Lee resumed his campaign activities on the 22nd with rallies in Incheon and Gyeonggi-do. From the afternoon, he visited Namdong-gu Guwol-dong and Bupyeong Station in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, followed by Bucheon and Ansan in Gyeonggi-do, highlighting the ‘differences’ from candidate Yoon while emphasizing his ‘confidence’ in victory and his ‘personal qualities.’

On the same day, Lee appeared on KBS Radio and sharply criticized the debate with Yoon Seok-youl, the People Power Party presidential candidate, held the day before. Lee described the debate as "feeling like talking to a wall," criticized Yoon for "not answering, postponing responses, talking at length to me but then asking someone else for their opinion," and called it "too disorderly." This is interpreted as an attempt to seize the initiative ahead of the remaining two official debates. The two candidates will face off in the political and social fields on the 25th and next month’s 2nd, respectively.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

While making remarks to check candidate Yoon outside the ring, Lee also criticized Yoon’s harsh remarks, political retaliation causing national division, polarization, and politics of hatred on stage. At the same time, he is expected to differentiate himself by presenting concepts of unity, prosperity, future, economy, and policy vision in response. Considering that the rally venues are regions not biased toward any particular ideology or faction, Lee plans to devote maximum effort to courting the undecided voters.

Since the official start of the election campaign, Lee has not missed a single day visiting the Seoul metropolitan area except for the 18th in Honam and the day before for debate preparation. As this region has played a casting vote role in past elections, it is considered a battleground in this presidential election, with an expected fierce contest more intense than ever.

In particular, Incheon, visited on this day, has fewer voters than Seoul and Gyeonggi areas but is considered a strategic key point because its vote share closely matched the national vote share in the last presidential election. In the 19th presidential election, it recorded 41.20%, closely matching Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea’s national vote share of 41.08%. In the 18th, it was 51.58% for Park Geun-hye of the Saenuri Party (national 51.55%), and in the 17th, 49.22% for Lee Myung-bak of the Grand National Party (national 48.67%).

Lee plans to focus on vote gathering by emphasizing ‘practical reform for people’s livelihood’ rather than reform trapped in left-right ideological logic, highlighting his achievements as governor of Gyeonggi-do.

Before the rally on this day, he announced the ‘Five Major Pledges for the Bio-Health Industry’ in the morning, emphasizing a ‘competent president’ who will turn the prolonged COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity. During rallies in Incheon and Bupyeong, Lee stated, "Incheon is the gateway for South Korea’s economy in terms of exports and imports, and peace is important for stable growth," adding, "Incheon citizens must punish the second ‘total wind’ and security populism such as preemptive strikes." This is aimed at rallying his support base.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In the subsequent rallies in Bucheon and Ansan, Lee will prominently present himself as the ‘first president from Gyeonggi Province.’ At this event, he plans to appeal for support by saying, "Please give me the opportunity to spread the practical policies for people’s livelihood that have achieved results in Gyeonggi-do nationwide." Afterwards, Lee will visit Cheongju, Chungbuk on the evening of the 23rd and Chungju on the 24th to solicit support.

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