South Korea presidential hopefuls make final pre-election pitch to voters

By Jack Kim

South Korea's leading presidential hopefuls crisscrossed the country on the final day of campaigning on Monday before converging on Seoul, vowing to revive an ailing economy and put months of turmoil over a failed martial law attempt behind them.

Tuesday's election was triggered by the ouster of Yoon Suk Yeol after he 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 frontrunner 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 his top priority as president if elected would be 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, Kim Moon-soo, Lee focused on the capital region - home to the highest concentration of the country's 44.39 million voters.

Around 40,000 supporters gathered at Lee's final campaign rally near the National Assembly, where he and 189 other lawmakers voted to lift Yoon's martial law six months ago as their aides and citizens were stopping soldiers from entering the building, according to his party.

Kim began the final day on the southern island of Jeju before crossing the country north, calling Lee a "dangerous man" who, if elected, would abuse the office of president and the parliament controlled by his Democratic Party under "Hitler-style" dictatorship.

The conservative candidate once again apologised on Monday for Yoon's martial law and pledged to undertake political reform.

"Martial law was wrong, and there were many other wrongdoings. I promise Korean politics will be different from the past," Kim said at his last rally near Seoul City Hall.

The two leading candidates were scheduled to wrap up three weeks of official campaigning at midnight in Seoul, with polls set to open at 6 a.m. (2100 GMT on Monday) on Tuesday across the country.

The winner, who will be certified on Wednesday, will have just a short few hours before taking office without the usual two-month transition as Yoon was removed by the Constitutional Court on April 4 for grave violation of his lawful duties.