Lee: "If delayed this week, it's over" After Chungcheong and Gangwon, weekend focus shifts to 'TK'... Targeting rival's home turf

Full-scale Offensive to Reverse Approval Ratings by Lee
"Yoon, a Politician of Hatred and Division"
Pre-election Crisis Intensifies
Two Days of Winning Central Votes
Visiting Chungcheong, Gangwon, and Weekend TK Tour

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] The Democratic Party of Korea has launched an all-out effort to rebound in approval ratings two weeks before the presidential election. On the 24th, Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, toured Chungcheong for the second day to capture the 'central region vote' before moving to Gangwon in the afternoon. Over the weekend, he plans to visit TK (Daegu and Gyeongbuk), the 'heart of conservatism,' to court his support base.

Within the party, there is a widespread sense of crisis that "if the gap is not narrowed and approval ratings do not rebound within this week, the tide will turn toward candidate Yoon." At campaign sites, they are increasing attacks on People Power Party candidate Yoon Seok-youl by mentioning the 'Four No-Go Theories' (incompetence/ignorance, superstition, suspicions involving himself, his wife, and mother-in-law, and declarations of retaliatory politics), while focusing party efforts on highlighting Lee's 'crisis response capability.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the morning of the same day, Lee continued his criticism of candidate Yoon in a radio interview. Regarding Yoon's strategy to court Honam, Lee said, "It is a path that must be taken, but Yoon has aspects of exploitation," and directly stated, "Former President Kim Dae-jung was a politician of unity, but Yoon is a politician of hatred and division." On Yoon's strong performance in Honam, Lee said, "It reflects the shortcomings of the Democratic Party in failing to meet expectations so far," and added, "We will reflect on our mistakes by creating a political system where fair competition is possible."

Lee visited Chungbuk, a region with many undecided voters, and held a campaign rally at the Youth Street in Chungju as his first schedule. He plans to appeal for support by promising balanced development in Chungju, the geographic center of South Korea. Afterwards, he will visit Sanchuk-myeon, Chungju, the hometown of his father-in-law, continuing his campaign as a self-proclaimed son-in-law of Chungcheong. Lee also visited Sanchuk-myeon with his spouse Kim Hye-kyung during last year's presidential primary. He will then head straight to Wonju, Gangwon Province. Since Gangwon is sensitive to security issues, Lee is expected to differentiate himself by targeting People Power Party candidate Yoon Seok-youl's 'preemptive strike theory.' A Democratic Party campaign committee official explained, "By touring campaign areas, Lee plans to emphasize his role as the 'commander-in-chief of crisis overcoming.'"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Woo Sang-ho, the Democratic Party's general campaign headquarters chief, told this outlet in a phone interview, "We will focus on targeting undecided voters by campaigning from early weak regions (Busan and Daejeon) to strong regions (Honam), and then back to weak regions (Daegu and Gyeongbuk)." He added, "As the polling gap is narrowing, we will launch an all-out public sentiment campaign through next week."

Separately, the Democratic Party is raising the level of counterattacks against candidate Yoon, claiming that the Daejang-dong preferential treatment allegations are escalating into the 'Yoon Seok-youl Gate.' Baek Hye-ryun, the senior spokesperson for the campaign committee, appeared on the radio that day and said, "The starting point of this project was when the Daejang-dong private development company received a loan from Busan Savings Bank," adding, "At that time, the lead prosecutor was candidate Yoon, and considering various circumstances such as Kim Man-bae's sister buying candidate Yoon's father's house, there are many connections to candidate Yoon. It seems that the Daejang-dong Gate is turning into the Yoon Seok-youl Gate," she attacked.

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