hankyoreh

Left: Lee Jae-myung supporters cheer during their candidate’s stump speech on Feb. 17, at Cheonggye Plaza. (Kim Myoung-jin/The Hankyoreh) Right: Yoon Suk-yeol supporters cheer during his stump speech on Feb. 17 at Yatap Station in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. (pool photo)

As an icy wind whipped across Cheonggye Plaza in Seoul at noon on Feb. 17, a 68-year-old passerby surnamed Kim paused to look at the electronic signboard on a campaign bus, a few steps back from the crowd of onlookers. More than 1,500 people had gathered, according to an estimate by the ruling Democratic Party, to hear a stump speech by their presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung.

“It’s worrying to see so many people gathered together when there are apparently 100,000 confirmed [daily] cases [of COVID-19]. That’s why I’m trying to keep a little distance as I watch,” Kim explained.

There were warm handshakes and hugs among some of the party supporters at the plaza. When Lee Jae-myung made his arrival, the crowd grew even more enthusiastic. Despite the day’s chill, the assembled people cheered whenever the candidate raised his voice and chanted his name.

Lawmakers who delivered the first speeches kept stirring up the crowd, shouting, “Which candidate is going to take care of your livelihood?”

“I’m not as worried because Omicron is apparently less deadly and because I’ve already had my booster shot,” said a 63-year-old surnamed Hong, a supporter of Lee.

As Lee departed after his speech, a tangled mass of people rushed toward him, trying to get closer to the candidate.

Lee Jae-myung, who is running for president on the Democratic Party’s ticket, speaks at a campaign event on Feb. 17 held in Cheonggye Plaza in downtown Seoul. (pool photo)

Korea reported more than 90,000 cases of COVID-19 that same day, just as it had the day before, creating a headache for both the ruling and opposition parties as they try to balance pandemic measures with electioneering. The candidates need to reach out to more voters with just only a few weeks left before the election, but they can’t ignore the COVID-19 caseload, which is shooting higher with each passing day.

It was much the same at a campaign rally for the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party. Yoon Suk-yeol’s campaign estimated that over 8,000 people had gathered for the candidate’s rally in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, also on Feb. 17.

Rallies in Anseong and Yongin attracted more than 3,000 and 500 people, respectively. Yoon was surrounded by supporters whenever he moved to take the stage; when people reached out to him, he responded typically with a fist bump, but sometimes with a handshake.

There was also some confusion as people jostled those in front of them to get closer to Yoon. To set the mood at the rallies, organizers had supporters join together in chanting “Yoon Suk-yeol.”

The Democratic Party, which is jointly responsible for Korea’s COVID-19 campaign along with the government, seems to be paying special attention to pandemic measures given its sensitivity to the pandemic’s potential impact on the election. The party distributed an updated campaign manual to local committees on Feb. 16 and toughened quarantine measures at campaign rallies.

The party has sought to staff its campaign with fully vaccinated individuals as much as possible, and campaign teams with local committees and city and provincial branches are required to include COVID-19 outbreaks in their daily situation briefings.

In their distinctive blue jumpers, most of the Democratic Party’s campaign workers were wearing not only the standard KF-94 masks but also blue campaign masks.

“We’re careful to rotate through three KF-94 masks every day,” said Lim Jin-seong, a 24-year-old campaign worker who spoke with the Hankyoreh in front of Wangsimni Station in Seoul.

People Power Party presidential nominee Yoon Suk-yeol greets supporters at a campaign event held on Feb. 17 in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. (pool photo)

The People Power Party (PPP) has also provided its campaign workers with self-testing kits and has instructed them to regularly change their masks.

“We’re disinfecting all [rally sites] in advance, and we’re minimizing our use of staff,” said a source with the PPP campaign.

While both the PPP and its supporters are being cautious at rallies, Yoon took flak when he removed his mask during a speech. Lee Jae-myung targeted Yoon for that during his speech in the Feb. 17 rally at Cheonggye Plaza.

“If I took off my mask like someone I could name, [my glasses] wouldn’t fog up. But since this is a pact we’ve made with the people, I’d better stick to [the pandemic rules],” Lee said.

“There’s an old saying that someone who steals a pin will go on to steal an ox. If I break a minor rule because of a minor inconvenience, it makes it harder to obey a major rule that causes a huge disadvantage.”

In response, the PPP campaign source said, “The outdoor pandemic rule is that you don’t have to wear a mask as long as you maintain two meters of distance. We had planned to put up clear plastic barriers in front [of Yoon], but opted not to because of complaints from camera crews.”

By Seo Young-ji and Kim Ga-yoon, staff reporters

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]