hankyoreh

Left: Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party waves to supporters while making a campaign stop at the Pyeonghwa Market in downtown Mokpo on Friday. (Kim Bong-gyu/The Hankyoreh) Right: Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Party leaves a campaign event in Daejeon on Feb. 15. (pool photo) Both candidates can be seen surrounded by bodyguards.

Presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Suk-yeol were on the campaign trail Friday, waving to and exchanging fist bumps with supporters as they made their way through the crowds in separate corners of the country.

Closely attached to these smiling candidates and their staff, however, were men wearing earpieces, dressed in black suits with stony expressions. Although it wasn't easy to navigate through the large crowds of supporters, these men in black didn’t take their eyes off their respective candidates and teams, even for a moment.

These men are the dedicated personnel deployed by the police to protect presidential candidates. Prior to the start of the official campaigning period on Feb. 15, the police increased the number of bodyguards for both Lee and Yoon from 10 to 20.

The police had previously deployed security personnel for the two candidates in November, after they won their respective party’s primaries to become the nominees. But the number of security guards has doubled to match the intense campaigning being done by candidates in the last leg of the race ahead of the March 9 election.

The level of security being offered to Lee and Yoon is equivalent to that provided to the speaker of the National Assembly, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, the president of the Constitutional Court, and the prime minister. It’s the highest level of protection offered by the police. Security for the president and president-elect is handled by the security department of the Office of the President.

Amid a surge in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Korea, police say that guarding presidential candidates has also become "much more difficult" than in past presidential elections.

A crowd of supporters wearing masks listens to campaign speeches by a candidate in this year’s presidential election made at the Dongdaegu Station in Daegu on Feb. 15. (pool photo)

A police official said on Monday that “everyone around the candidates is wearing a mask, so you can't read their facial expressions. We are being more careful and paying attention to anyone who makes suspicious movements and that may want to harm the candidates.”

The risk of security personnel being infected with COVID-19 is also constant. In response, the police consulted with each candidate’s camps and decided to deploy fewer bodyguards than the 30 used in previous elections, judging that close contact should be reduced as much as possible in close quarters.

“If any of the security personnel have abnormal symptoms, they immediately use a self-testing kit, and even if someone tests positive, a ‘clean team’ that can replace the entire security team at any time is also on standby,” the police official explained.

In addition to Lee and Yoon, the police are also operating security personnel dedicated to presidential candidates Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party and Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party.

Traditionally, presidential candidates from major parties in the parliament receive the level of protection at the prime minister's level, but minor parties that do not have a seat in the National Assembly would only receive security protection if requested by the candidates.

Among the more minor candidates, Our Republican Party candidate Cho Won-jin is the only one who has been under the close police protection of four guards since the party kicked off its campaign in Daegu on Saturday.

Jeong Byung-ik, head of the Our Republican Party's strategic planning department, said that the destruction of a campaign banner for Cho Won-jin had prompted the party to request protection “in anticipation of attacks by those who oppose the Taegeukgi rallies,” referring to rallies in support of the impeached former president, Park Geun-hye.

By Park Su-ji and Park Ji-young, staff reporters

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