South Korea Votes For New Leader To Fight COVID, Housing Prices And Inequality

SEOUL, March 9 – South Koreans took to the polls on Wednesday to elect a new president who will shape Asia’s fourth-largest economy, riven by gender and intergenerational differences, confront a confrontational North Korea, and guide the country’s rising status. in the world.

The campaign has been marked by surprises, scandals and slander, but the political stakes are high for the country’s 52 million people and who they elect to be president for the next five years.

The winner will face mounting challenges, including coping with the worst wave of COVID-19 infections in South Korea, deepening inequality and rising house prices, and overcoming an increasingly intense rivalry between China and the United States.

Voters are looking for a leader who can root out corruption and start negotiations to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. More

The contest is an intense two-way race between Lee Jae Myung, the flag bearer of the ruling Democratic Party, and Yoon Suk Yeol of the mainstream conservative opposition People’s Power Party. More

They are fighting for the seat of incumbent President Moon Jae-in, who is constitutionally barred from re-election.

The victory of the conservative opposition will be a marked turnaround for the party, which has been in disarray since the last election in 2017, held shortly after the impeachment and resignation of President Park Geun-hye.

Meanwhile, Moon’s Liberal Democratic Party is fighting to protect and continue his agenda, as well as thwart Yoon’s threats to investigate the outgoing president’s administration for corruption if elected.

Two pre-Moon presidents, including Park, were imprisoned after leaving office. Moon is not facing specific wrongdoing charges, but his administration has faced several major top-level corruption scandals.

Polls last week showed a slight lead for Yoon, who received a surprise last-minute promotion when his fellow conservative third-place finisher dropped out and endorsed Yoon. More

Due to a lack of polling over the past six days, Yun’s camp said on Monday they were looking to win by a 10% margin, while Lee’s team predicted they would come out on top by a 1-2% margin.

Of the estimated 44 million eligible voters across the country, more than 61% had voted by 1 p.m. Wednesday, according to polling officials. This number includes a record turnout for early voting, which began on Friday.

QUALITY VOTERS

Former Attorney General Yoon vowed to fight corruption, promote justice and create a more equal playing field, while pushing for a harder line on North Korea and a “reset” with China. More

Lee was the governor of the most populous province of Gyeonggi-do and became famous for his aggressive response to the coronavirus and his defense of universal basic income. More

Both candidates’ disapproval ratings were in line with their popularity as scandals, vilification and gaffes dominated what was called a “nasty election”. More

The key block is considered to be young voters who supported Moon, but became disillusioned with economic problems and corruption scandals.

Lee Sung Jin, 33, said he heard that the turnout of people in their 20s and 30s would make a big difference.

“Because the current problems of young people regarding employment and housing prices are serious, I voted for a candidate who promised to find solutions,” he said, casting his vote in Seoul, without specifying who he voted for.

VOTING WITH COVID-19

On Wednesday, South Korea reported a record daily tally of 342,446 new COVID-19 cases, but the surge was unlikely to be registered as an election issue outside of some debate about how to compensate citizens and businesses.

As more than 1 million COVID patients are treated at home, polling officials tightened voting procedures on Monday amid outrage over early voting violations. More

During Saturday’s special early voting for infected voters, some polling officials collected ballots into shopping bags or plastic buckets to place in ballot boxes, and some voters reported receiving ballots that had already been used.

Officials said there was no evidence of foul play, but the chaos threatened to tarnish South Korea’s 35-year democratic history of tough and relatively transparent elections.

The race has already faced a number of crashes.

In a rare incident of election violence in South Korea, a man wielding a hammer attacked and slightly wounded the Democratic Party leader on Monday as he campaigned for Lee. More

Reporting by Hyunhee Shin; Additional reporting by Josh Smith, Daewong Kim and Yeni Seo; Editing: Lincoln Fist, Robert Biersell

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