South Korea presidential hopefuls make final pitch to voters ahead of election

SEOUL - South Koreas leading presidential hopefuls were crisscrossing the country on the final day of campaigning on June 2 before converging on Seoul, vowing to revive an ailing economy and put months of turmoil over a failed martial law attempt behind them.

The June 3 election was triggered by the ouster of Yoon Suk Yeol who briefly imposed martial law in December, stunning South Koreans who had come to believe the days of using the military to intervene in the democratic process were long past.

Liberal front runner Lee Jae-myung vowed to mend the social division that deepened in the aftermath of Yoon’s martial law, but said his opponent and Yoon’s People Power Party must be held accountable, branding them “insurrection sympathisers”.

“We are at a historic inflection point of whether we go on as a democratic republic or become a country of dictators,” Lee told a campaign rally in the battleground capital.

Later he said the top priority as president if elected would be to take urgent steps to address the economy, adding he would first turn his attention to the cost of living for middle- and low-income families and the struggles of small business owners.

After sweeping through key swing vote regions and the stronghold of his main conservative opponent, Mr Kim Moon-soo, Lee focused on the capital region home to the highest concentration of the countrys 44.39 million voters.

Mr Kim started the final day on the southern island of Jeju before crossing the country north, calling Lee a “dangerous man” who would abuse the office of president and the parliament controlled by his Democratic Party in an unchecked manner.

The conservative candidate once again apologised on June 2 for Yoons martial law and pledged to undertake political reform.

The two leading candidates were scheduled to