This year‘s earlier-than-planned presidential election, slated for May 9, so involves a record-high of 15 candidates in total, six of them affiliated with parliamentary parties and nine without.

Facing the 22-day electioneering period, running from midnight Sunday up to midnight May 8, all candidates set to reach out to the public, starting with their official poster images and key slogans.

“A reliable president to build a decent nation” is the term which front-runner Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea chose as a key slogan.

His poster is particularly noted for the unedited full-sized photograph of the candidate, unlike that of his rivals which generally involve some tweaking.

“We did not use Photoshop or any other editing tool so that the poster may reveal the real Moon Jae-in as he is, with grey hair and wrinkles,” said Rep. Han Jeoung-ae, chief publicist of Moon’s camp.

The poster of Hong Joon-pyo of the hard line conservative Liberty Korea Party states that he shall "safeguard the free Republic of Korea." Along with an image of the smiling candidate is the phrase “strong president for ordinary people."

The given image and slogans reflect Hong‘s determination as a true conservative candidate to protect the conservative values of the nation, according to his camp officials.

Candidate No. 3 Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party was the most eccentric -- his poster being a plain snap shot of the candidate holding up both hands at one of the party‘s conventions. Neither candidate number nor party name was to be found, making the political audience wonder if this was indeed the official campaign poster.

“The intention was to show the change in our politics and also to reflect my will for such change,” Ahn said during his morning street campaign.

His arms, stretched in the form of V, is also a reminder of the V3 computer virus vaccine which Ahn had distributed for free public use during his former days as an IT entrepreneur, according to his camp officials.

Yoo Seong-min of the Bareun Party chose to underline his forte as an economic and national security expert. His poster, titled “Yoo Seong-min, the new hope for the conservative,” lists his past experience as chief of key economic research institutes, after which it says "show me what you can do!"

Sim Sang-jeung of the Justice Party focused on her labor-friendly pledges. While vowing to build "a country in which labor makes one proud," she also referred to herself as "the president to change my life," using the party‘s signature yellow color. The progressive candidate also stated her career as a factory worker and labor activist.


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