"No Unification Effect Expected" Ruling Party's All-Out Effort to Target Centrist Voters

Surprise Single Nomination Reverse Convention Expected
An Resigns, Moves to Win Over Disappointed Supporters

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The Democratic Party of Korea has regrouped with a focus on moderate and swing voters following the unification of opposition candidates. Both ruling and opposition party bases are considered already consolidated, so the strategy is to attract as many moderate conservatives, who split after the opposition candidate unification, and the approximately 7-8% swing voters appearing in various polls as possible.

Woo Sang-ho, Chief of the Democratic Party of Korea's General Election Headquarters, is attending the headquarters leaders' meeting held at the central party office in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 2nd, delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Woo Sang-ho, the Democratic Party's general election campaign headquarters chief, said in a phone interview on the 4th, "After the opposition unification, we are checking three things: the direction of vote shifts among Ahn Cheol-soo's supporters, whether and to what extent this has been pre-reflected in the support rates of both sides, and the capacity to absorb moderate and swing voters." He added, "The sense of crisis has intensified, and the attitudes of those who were not favorable to Lee Jae-myung may change drastically, so we are observing that effect." He continued, "We are also analyzing how many of Ahn Cheol-soo's supporters will go to each side and, if pre-reflection has occurred, how much capacity remains."

He emphasized that the key is to capture as many moderate and swing voters, who lost direction after Ahn's withdrawal, as possible. The Democratic Party conducted its own analysis of the unification's impact and judged that the gap in support rates between candidates Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Seok-youl is narrowing. Therefore, they assessed that the 'unification effect' might not be as significant as the opposition expected.

The Democratic Party judged that even after unification, the gap between the two candidates remains within the margin of error, placing weight on the idea that the final choice of moderate voters will decide the outcome. Swing voters tend to vote on the very last day more than during early voting, so they anticipate the battle for swing voters will take place over the next 3 to 4 days.

On the same day, Yoon Ho-jung, the floor leader, said on CBS Radio, "Anyway, the opposition-leaning votes that had gone to Ahn have already all gone to candidate Yoon," and downplayed the unification effect by saying, "The impact of unification on the race is very small or may even be advantageous to candidate Lee Jae-myung." Instead, he expected a total consolidation effect for the ruling party within the clarified race structure.

Kang Hoon-sik, head of strategic planning, said on a radio program in the morning, "People received the unification that happened the day before voting as a shock, creating a reverse convention effect, meaning it will further unite the opposing side's supporters." He announced plans to focus on the key battlegrounds of 'Seoul,' 'women,' and the '2030 generation' to capture voter sentiment.

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