No. 156 / Mar 7, 2022
The 20th presidential election will be held in South Korea on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Through this presidential election, the winning candidate will become president and fulfill duties as head of the state for five years.
On election day, Korean citizens aged 18 or older have the right to vote. In addition to the voting day on March 9, there are additional days when voting is possible. First, there is an “overseas vote”. Overseas voting refers to a system in which Koreans living or staying abroad can vote; it ran from February 23 to February 28. Second, “early voting” was offered to people who could not vote on election day. From March 4 to March 5, such individuals were allowed to vote at early voting stations nationwide. In addition, “voting on board” is available for sailors who cannot vote on the pre-voting day or election day, and “voting on residence” means that they can vote by mail from their home, hospital, or nursing home for those who do not have mobility.
The 20th presidential election includes 14 candidates. While there are many candidates, this article will cover four: Lee Jae-myung, Yoon Seok-yeol, Sim Sang-jung, and Ahn Cheol-soo, all of whom are invited to the TV candidate debate.
First, candidate Lee Jae-myung of the Minjoo Party of Korea created many pledges in the economic sector. In the growth policy sector, he proposed a policy that the government will lead the transition to new industries and directly support them. Candidate Yoon Seok-yeol of the People Power Party referred to the creation of private-led jobs, suggesting a direction to revitalize corporate investment through deregulation and continue corporate growth. Candidate Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party pledged to pay attention to health care and the environment. Candidate Sim’s pledge is to switch to a decarbonized society with a “Green economy” and create an ecological environment as well as to guarantee and emphasize basic rights such as workers’ rights, education, and gender equality. Finally, the candidate Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party pledged to focus on economy, science, and technology. The goal is for Korea to become a powerhouse not only in its economy, but also in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and semiconductors. Other sector pledges, such as welfare and national defense, can be found in the policy pledge yard of the National Election Commission (https://policy.nec.go.kr/).
On March 3, candidate No. 4 Ahn Cheol-soo proposes unifying of candidates. As a result, Ahn supports Yoon and resigns from the presidential candidate. The two candidates advocate a “better regime change”. Members of the People’s Party are divided into opinions that they will support Ahn until the end and that they will withdraw their support.
The presidential election vote began at 6 a.m. and ended at 6 p.m., and counting began immediately after the vote ended at 6 p.m. The president, elected based on the results of the vote counting, will begin on May 10, 2022. Let us watch the candidate pledge book and the TV debate and participate in the vote.
By Lee Noo-ri, AG Senior Editor
cabello1706@ajou.ac.kr
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