Despite the adverse weather conditions, candidates in the May 9 presidential election began an intense 22 days of cross-country campaigning Monday.

The two front-runners -- Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People‘s Party -- canvassed downtown Seoul and a key provincial constituency consecutively on their first day, seeking to get a start on each other.

Moon kick-started his campaign in Daegu, the central city of the country’s conservative-leaning North Gyeongsang Province region.

The unconventional move to begin electioneering in an “enemy camp” reflected his determination to realize national unity, one of his key campaign slogans, according to his camp officials.


“I want to become president of the Republic of Korea, not of Daegu, not of Busan, not of Gwangju,” he said during his first street campaign held near Kyungpook University.

“I dream of a victory which both Yeongnam and Honam may applaud for, and it is Daegu which may open the door to such unity.”

Among those assisting Moon at the scene were Reps. Cho Eung-cheon and Kim Boo-kyum, both reaching across the political aisle.

Cho, a former Cheong Wa Dae official, earlier turned his back on the now-ousted President Park Geun-hye and later joined the liberal opposition party. Fourth-term lawmaker Kim is a rare liberal figure to win a legislative seat in the conservative city of Daegu.

After his tour in Daegu, Moon returned to Seoul to campaign in downtown Gwanghwamun Square.

Unlike most of his rivals, the Democratic Party candidate did not hold a midnight ceremony to mark the start of the electioneering period. Instead, he released a video through his official social media accounts and party webpage.

“I hereby set off on a big run of 22 days, at the end of which the fate of the Republic of Korea is to be decided,” he said in the video.

“I shall give all that I have so that my beloved country and its people no longer suffer.”

Moon, who fell short in the 2012 election against eventual President Park Geun-hye, also confirmed this year’s race is to be his last bid for presidency.

Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party began with canvassing the metropolitan area in the morning before moving onto the provinces.

He chose to make a more dramatic start by visiting the Vessel Traffic Services Center at the Incheon Port at midnight, relating his slogans for public safety to the sinking of the Sewol ferry.


“I shall build a nation which places the people’s lives and safety as a top priority,” he said, vowing to expand investment in advanced equipment and reinforce the disaster countermeasure system.

He pledged to make real-time responses to disasters and accidents so as not to miss the “golden time,” alluding to the former Park administration’s failure to handle the deadly maritime accident, which marked its third anniversary Sunday.

In his early morning street campaign, held some hours later at Gwanghwamun Square, Ahn underlined the term “people” in the name of his party.

“This year‘s election is one of the people, by the people, for the people,” he said.

“Our greatest lesson learned from the peaceful citizen revolution was that the people eventually end victorious.”

After addressing national issues and the metropolitan audience, Ahn then headed for the southwest Gwangju-Jeolla provinces belt, a key stronghold region where his party holds 23 of the 28 legislative seats.

Wearing the party’s signature green shirt, Ahn focused on stirring the anti-Moon sentiment among local voters.

“We, the people of Honam, remember Moon’s repeated lies and excuses,” he said in a post on his Facebook account and during his Honam campaigns, referring to Moon and the Democratic Party as power monopolizes that should be eliminated.

Meanwhile, minority candidates focused more on highlighting their strengths so as to catch the attention of undecided voters.

Yoo Seong-min of the conservative Bareun Party visited the Seoul Emergency Operations Center at midnight and Memorial Hall for Incheon Landing Operation in the morning, in an apparent action to underline both public safety and national security.

Sim Sang-jeung of the progressive Justice Party, in contrast, chose to meet with janitors working at Seoul Metro’s Goyang garage, doling out her signature labor slogans.

“I shall build a country in which workers are treated fairly and take pride in their labor,” she said.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)