Candidates in S. Korea polls focus on economy

The economy tops the agenda as South Korea's presidential candidates from both the liberal and conservative parties compete for the June 3 election.

Based on the top 10 election pledges by each candidate published on the National Election Commission website on Wednesday, Lee Jaemyung of the liberal Democratic Party, a front-runner in the polls, and his key rival Kim Moon-soo of the ruling People Power Party listed economic growth as their No 1 priority.

Lee said he aims to develop South Korea into "a leading global economic powerhouse" while achieving a fair economic structure for small and medium-sized enterprises. Kim, a former labor minister, stressed "freedom-driven growth" and making the country a place where businesses thrive to empower the private sector and foster innovation.

Both candidates emphasize an innovation-driven economy led by artificial intelligence.

South Korea will hold its 21st presidential election on June 3. The snap polls were called after former president Yoon Suk-yeol was removed from office in April over his short-lived martial law declaration in December. A total of seven candidates have registered for the race.

Of these, Lee remained overwhelmingly in the lead with a support rate of 51 percent, a survey conducted by Gallup Korea and commissioned by local media News1 showed on Wednesday. Kim garnered 31 percent, followed by 8 percent for Lee Jun-seok, the presidential candidate of the minor Reform Party and former PPP chair.

Lee Jun-seok, 40, is the youngest presidential candidate in the race. His top campaign pledge is to build a competent government that works effectively by weakening presidential power. His economic proposals include establishing a "regulatory benchmarking system" to ease regulations for companies.

"The economy is going to be the biggest issue in this election," Yang Jun-sok, a professor of economics at The Catholic University of Korea in Seoul, told China Daily. South Korea's growth rate has declined in recent years and it now faces increasing pressure from the United States' tariffs, Yang said.

Citing rising global trade uncertainties and weakening exports, the Korea Development Institute, a state-run think tank, halved its growth forecast for South Korea this year to 0.8 percent from the previous 1.6 percent in February, according to Yonhap News Agency.

However, Yang said Lee Jaemyung's focus on fairness, which indicates more regulations for large companies, may not be enough to promote dynamic economic growth, while Kim's emphasis on tax reduction is also incomplete.

Yang said he believes there will be more concrete measures coming up since both sides were pretty hurried in making the pledges for the snap election.

"The main emphasis now should be on how to increase productivity," said Yang. "That means we need more investment … we need to make South Korea more efficient."

Besides the economy, the candidates also made pledges related to political stability, diplomacy, demographics, national security, and climate change.

kelly@chinadailyapac.com