South Korea kick starts official campaign for Presidential elections

According to Yonhap, the polls show that Democratic Party (DP) candidate Lee Jae-myung has led the race.

With the election fervor, opinion surveys in South Korea have predicted that the voters are likely to end three years of conservative rule after former President Yoon Suk Yeol was ousted over his failed martial law bid in December.

Democratic Party candidate, Lee Jae-myung is the front-runner, trailed by People Power Party's (PPP) candidate Kim Moon-soo, who has served as the former labour minister. According to Yonhap, his candidacy was confirmed only two days ago after an intraparty strife happened over a possible candidacy merger with former Prime Mininster Han Duck-soo.

Notably, the promises made by Lee include improving the economy and people's livelihoods, while Kim is expected to unite conservative voters to challenge the DP candidate.

In total seven candidates have made their bids official during a two-day registration period through Sunday. Yonhap reported that seven people have registered their candidacies with the National Election Commission, the election watchdog.

It was observed that the candidates and their campaign teams have been allowed to give speeches in public places starting 7 AM till 11 PM. 7 a.m. and 11 PM.

They are also allowed to distribute leaflets, other campaign materials, and put up campaign banners during the official campaign period.

Yonhap reported that Lee was assigned candidate No 1, followed by No 2 for Kim and No 4 for Lee Jun-seok of the minor New Reform Party.

As per law, candidate numbers are assigned in order of the number of seats a party holds in the National Assembly, starting with the party with the most seats, Yonhap mentioned.

It was reported that No 3 was left blank as the Rebuilding Korea Party did not field a candidate, while Nos 5-8 were given to two minor party candidates and two independents.

As per the report by Yonhap, the election, which was triggered by the impeachment of former President Yoon over his failed martial law bid in December, has shaped up to be a contest between the DP's Lee and Kim.