Curtains fall on election campaign as South Korea set for snap polls

ANKARA

The election campaign came to a close on Monday night, with South Korea set to vote in snap polls on Tuesday.

Hours before the voting begins at 6 am local time (2100GMT), the candidates made their final sprint to gain voters a day ahead of the election, Yonhap News reported.

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Democratic Party and ruling People Power Party (PPP) candidate Kim Moon-soo converged on the capital Seoul in their final push to shore up last-minute support.

Frontrunner Lee wrapped up his campaign in Seoul with a major rally in Yeouido Park, where tens of thousands of his supporters gathered waving blue balloons.

Recalling the Dec. 3 martial law declaration, he called on voters "to end the insurrection through voting."

He added: "Voting, the ultimate weapon of those who hold sovereignty, is the most powerful weapon to end insurrection," stressing that "voting is mightier than bullets."

The latest poll showed Lee, 61, a human rights lawyer-turned-politician, in the lead with 49.2%, followed by Kim, 73, a former labor minister, with 36.8%.

Lee Jun-seok of the conservative New Reform Party is in third place with 10.3%.

The snap presidential election was triggered by the impeachment and removal of former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his abortive bid to invoke martial law last December.

South Koreans living overseas have already cast their votes during a two-day early voting period that took place last week.

According to the National Election Commission, some 44.4 million people in the country of 52 million are eligible to vote.

* Aamir Latif contributed to the story from Pakistan.