Two leading candidates – Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party – are waging keen campaign battles to grab voter sentiment in the provinces.
According to a recent Gallup Korea poll, Moon and Ahn each hold an advantage in three of their six major regions – Gyeonggi Province, North and South Jeolla Provinces and South Gyeongsang Province for Moon and Seoul, North and South Chungcheong Provinces and North Gyeongsang Province for Ahn.
The divided provincial batch appears irregular compared to past elections. Further, conservative Yoo Seong-min is rapidly recovering in popularity in his home turf – North Gyeongsang Province and Daegu – while aggravating uncertainty in the Jeolla provinces and Gwangju.