South Korea: Lee embraces centre-right politicians; Kim clings to candidacy merger with minor party

Their different campaign strategies were evident this week, as polls showed that Lee has kept a solid lead against Kim, with less than two weeks to go until the presidential election on June 3.

Lee has called for fighting against "insurrection forces" in parts of the establishment, while the PPP remains divided over the aftermath of the surprise martial law decree by former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is standing trial for insurrection and left the PPP last week.

Rep. Park Kyung-mee, a spokesperson for the DP's election committee, told reporters on Tuesday that its strategy of building a coalition has expanded to a "grand tent" by gathering politicians "beyond conservatives and progressives".

Among conservative politicians who recently endorsed Lee were Her Eun-a, former leader of the New Reform Party (NRP), and former lawmaker Kim Yong-nam of the same party.

In various opinion polls, Lee was ahead of Kim by a comfortable margin. A Realmeter survey released this week showed that Lee garnered 50.2 per cent support, trailed by Kim with 35.6 per cent and Lee Jun-seok of the NRP with 8.7 per cent.

Although Kim has publicly asked the NRP's Lee to merge their candidacies, the NRP candidate has ruled out a possible merger with Kim.

On Wednesday, the PPP renewed its appeal to the NRP's Lee about a possible merger. In a Facebook post, Rep. Kim Yong-tae, the PPP's interim leader, said the two candidates "must join forces in the end" as he emphasised the party's commitment to party reform.

Speaking to reporters after attending the Asian Leadership Conference earlier in the day, the NRP's Lee dismissed the possibility of a unified candidacy, saying "there is no change" in his stance regarding the issue.

Unless they merge candidacies by Saturday, ballot papers will be printed with their names, Yonhap news agency reported.

On Wednesday, Lee of the DP continued his campaign trail in his stronghold of Incheon, west of Seoul.

He kicked off the day with a YouTube livestream with his supporters, followed by visits to the districts of Namdong and Bupyeong in Incheon. He will wrap up the day in Gyeyang, the constituency he represents at the National Assembly.

Since starting his Seoul stop on Monday, Lee has been focusing on rallying votes in the capital region, visiting key areas in northern Gyeonggi, such as Uijeongbu, Goyang, Paju and Gimpo, on Tuesday.

Kim of the PPP also focused his campaign on the greater Seoul area during the day to bolster support in the battleground region.

He participated in a televised debate hosted by the Korea Broadcasting Journalists Club before heading to Goyang on the northern outskirts of Seoul to begin his campaign stops.

Kim also joined a rice planting session with young farmers in Goyang and held a roundtable discussion.

He then travelled to Gimpo to meet with young business owners, in an apparent effort to appeal to young voters. Other stops include Paju, Dongducheon, Yangju and Namyangju.