Presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is the dominant front-runner in the 22-day old presidential election race, which is passing the half-way mark on May 22.
As the official presidential election campaign kicked off on May 12, several public polls showed that Lee of DPK could surpass the 50 percent of the vote, making election history, expanding his lead by double digits over his conservative rivals – Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party (PPP) and Lee Jun-seok of the Reform Party (RP).
If the trend continues, some political analysts hinted that Lee of DPK could secure close to 60 percent of the votes cast, setting new records for a “triple crown” — the highest number of votes, the largest vote share, and the widest margin of victory since direct presidential elections made their debut in 1987.
As the race was near the half-way point, outcomes of the National Barometer Survey (NBS), conducted between May 19 and May 21, showed that Lee of DPK led with 46 percent, trailed by Kim of PPP with 32 percent and Lee of RP with 10 percent.
The latest survey showed Lee of DPK drop ed 3 percentage points compared to the NBS survey, which was conducted between May 12 and May 14.
Kim and Lee of RP increased by 5 percentage points and 3 percentage points, respectively.
Kim and Lee’s upward trend in the latest NBS survey sparked speculation over the probability that the conservative candidates Kim and Lee could reach a single candidacy agreement.
If Kim and Lee agree to unite forces under a single candidate, the PPP thinks it can turn the situation around.
Some political analysts said conservative voters began to rally behind the two, and concern was mounting that DPK Lee’s victory could lead to an overconcentration of power.
But Lee of RP bluntly ruled out a single candidate deal, saying that his name on the ballot would be seen clearly.
In this context, even though Lee was leading with double digits, DPK maintained a low profile by warning against being overly optimistic. For instance, DPK told its supporters not to use the words “an easy victory” and “a sweeping victory” publicly.
The opposition party plans to urge his support voters to cast their votes lest they give up their rights, citing that Lee was leading with a wide margin in survey outcomes.
Lee of DPK appeared to be on the same wavelength with his rival Kim of PPP, citing economic growth as their top priority. The two mentioned the same goal of getting the country back on a growth track, by securing new growth engines, but they struck a sharp contrast in terms of policymaking.
Lee suggested “fair economy” as his keywords when it came to eliminating unfair trading, while Kim prioritized the cause known as “autonomous growth,” leaving growth to the autonomy of the private sector and private companies.
The two candidates simultaneously came up with fiscal expansion and tax reduction policies, but not without raising finances.
Analysts said even though tax revenues were in the red, the two candidates lacked plans to achieve fiscal soundness.
Presidential candidates of each party submitted their top 10 policy pledges to the Central Election Commission on May 14. Lee of DPK and Kim of PPP also placed the economy topic on the first of the list.
The two candidates agreed on nurturing new industries, including AI, as pending issues.
They shared the same views on the need of expanding R&D investments. They differed on the path to achieve economic growth.
Lee saw “fair economic structure” as a foundation for economic growth.
His rationale is creating an environment in which SMEs can grow by blocking foul play by large-sized companies.
For example, he wants to introduce a “Korean-type discovery” system to prevent the stealing of technologies, uproot illegal profit-taking practices through controlling shareholders’ abuse of capital and profit and loss transactions, and creating a fair market order by uprooting price manipulation.
Kim called for eliminating a variety of restrictions by enacting the Basic Act of “Free Economic Innovation” to become a business-friendly nation and a job-friendly nation and nurturing future industries.
He pledged to build a variety of infrastructure projects to boost corporate investments, and offered tax benefits and subsidies.
Lee of RP also pledged to introduce a national system on international regulatory standards designed to tear domestic restrictions by taking a cue from regulatory levels of advanced countries. He vowed to spur reshoring for Korean companies coming back to Korea from abroad.
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