Rival Parties Intensify Campaigns Before South Korea's Local Elections

SEOUL, May 28 (Yonhap) -- Rival parties ramped up their campaigns to win over voters in key battlegrounds Thursday, one day before the start of early voting for the June 3 local elections and parliamentary by-elections. Recent surveys conducted before the blackout on election-related nationwide polls, which began on the day, showed races tightening between the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), with some appearing too close to call. With the two-day early voting set to start Friday, both parties have been making last-minute efforts to sway swing voters in closely contested races, including the mayoral races in Seoul, Busan, Ulsan, and Daegu, as well as the gubernatorial race in South Gyeongsang Province. In Seoul, one of the most closely watched races in the local elections, recent polls showed widely diverging results between incumbent Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the PPP and the DP's candidate, Chong Won-o. Some surveys indicated that Chong was ahead by a wide margin while others showed Oh leading by a razor-thin margin. The two Seoul mayoral candidates are set to hold their first and final joint televised debate later in the day. In the southeastern city of Daegu, a traditional conservative stronghold, PPP candidate Choo Kyung-ho maintained the lead in many surveys, with DP candidate Kim Boo-kyum seeking to narrow the gap. In a survey conducted Monday and Tuesday by Ace Research and commissioned by Daegu MBC, Choo led with 47.1 percent, ahead of Kim at 45.7 percent. A Realmeter survey conducted during the same period also showed Choo at 50.9 percent, 9.3 percentage points ahead of Kim. The PPP has been intensifying its campaign in Daegu to rally support from conservative voters, describing the city as the conservatives' last stronghold. In Busan, six surveys conducted from last Thursday through Wednesday showed Chun Jae-soo of the DP leading PPP candidate Park Heong-joon, the city's incumbent mayor seeking a third term. The DP and the PPP are also vying fiercely in the parliamentary by-elections to be held alongside the local elections. In the closely watched Pyeongtaek-B constituency, the race has shaped up as a three-way competition among Cho Kuk, leader of the liberal Rebuilding Korea Party, Kim Yong-nam of the DP, and Yu Eui-dong of the PPP. A Gallup poll conducted last Thursday and Friday showed Kim leading with 30 percent, followed by Cho at 25 percent and Yu at 23 percent. As for the Buk-A constituency in Busan, former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon, who is running as an independent, and Ha Jung-woo of the DP, former presidential secretary for artificial intelligence policy and future planning, are running neck and neck, with recent polls showing the lead swinging back and forth between the two. Park Min-shik of the PPP remained behind both candidates.