SEOUL – Candidates running in South Korea’s snap presidential election stage made a last push for votes on Monday, the eve of a poll triggered by the ex-leader Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration.
South Koreans are desperate to draw a line under six months of political turmoil sparked by Yoon’s brief suspension of civilian rule in December, for which he was impeached and removed from office.
All major polls put liberal Lee Jae-myung well ahead in the presidential race, with the latest Gallup survey showing 49 percent of respondents viewed him as the best candidate.
Conservative Kim Moon-soo, from the People Power Party — Yoon’s former party — trailed Lee on 35 percent.
Both candidates have framed the campaign as a fight for the soul of the nation.
Lee is set to spend much of his final day of campaigning in his old stomping grounds of Gyeonggi Province — where he previously served as governor and built much of his support base.
He will then head to Seoul’s Yeouido, where the “revolution of light began”, according to his party — a reference to a standoff between lawmakers and soldiers during the ill-fated martial law declaration.
“From the place where the revolution of light began, we envision a future for South Korea, one that ends internal strife, overcomes insurrection, and emerges as a leading global economic power,” a spokeswoman for Lee’s Democratic Party said.
