Candidates made their final pitches on the eve of the election Tuesday, wrapping up their grueling campaigns to the next presidency.

A total of 40.52 million voters will troop to polling stations across the country to make a choice between conservative Park Geun-hye and liberal Moon Jae-in. 

Polls last week indicated Park maintained a slight lead but cannot take victory for granted as Moon is fast catching up after restoring ties with popular ally Ahn Cheol-soo and making an impressive showing in the last TV debate Sunday.

Embarking on her last campaign trail, Park, the conservative icon and the daughter of former President Park Chung-hee, reiterated her commitment to ushering in a new era of national unity and a prosperous future.

“An era will open that is totally different from the past. An epochal change which goes beyond a simple change of government will come,” the candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party told a news conference. “It depends on your choice.”

Moon, a former human rights lawyer and the chief of staff of former President Roh Moo-hyun, urged voters to prevent the extension of the conservative government.

He urged people to practice their voting rights, asking them to deliver judgment over the past five years of the right-wing Lee Myung-bak administration’s rule.

“(If Park wins) the next five years would be harsher and more adverse than the past five. The past wrongs could extend into the future ― or a totally different five years of hope could come,” the liberal Democratic United Party’s presidential nominee told a news conference.

The race for the 18th president remained too close to call even until the very last minute as both parties claimed that they are headed toward victory, citing undisclosed polls during the last few days. The announcement of new presidential polls conducted after Dec. 13 has been banned.

The two candidates canvassed across the country from Seoul to Busan, the two most decisive battle sites in the election.

Early in the morning, Park visited the stock exchange in Yeouido to check on stock prices and economic trends. She then began her campaign stops starting in the South Gyeongsang city of Changwon, moving on to Busan, then Daejeon, and finishing in Seoul with an appearance in Gwanghwamun that marked the pinnacle of her presidential campaign.

Moon spent the last day of his presidential campaign traversing the country southward, starting from Seoul and rounding off in his hometown of Busan.

The city is clearly divided between its years-long loyalty for the right wing and its recent preference for the liberal candidate. Moon won his first parliamentary seat in the city in this year’s April general elections.

In Seoul, the Saenuri candidate emphasized her preparedness as leader and the new era her election victory would bring.

“Instead of an unstable administration that would take one to two years to adjust to the task of governing the nation, please pick a candidate who can lead the nation and handle the issues the common people face starting at the moment of election,” Park said at Saenuri headquarters in Yeouido on Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours before voters would take to the voting booths to cast their votes.

Park reiterated her campaign pledges, from cutting college tuition to shifting the cost of treating major illnesses affecting senior citizens to the government. Toward the end of her speech, Park stressed that this year’s campaign would be her last political act. In late November, Park had resigned her seat in the National Assembly, announcing that “if I do not earn the trust of the people in this year’s presidential election, then I will put an end to my political journey.”

The former first daughter then reminded the audience of her personal history. “I have no family to look after, or children to pass on inheritance,” said Park, whose mother and father were shot dead when she was aged 22 and 27, respectively. “My only family is you, the people, and the only reason why I am in politics is for the happiness of the people.”

In Changwon, Park pressed forward her campaign pledge to build scientific facilities in the industrial city that is home to STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. and Doosan Heavy Industries Co. In Busan, Park stressed her vision to develop the southern port city into the maritime capital of northeastern Asia. In Daejeon, she reiterated her pledge to establish a business belt focused on science and technology.

She concluded the campaign of her lifelong dream in Gwanghwamun Plaza in central Seoul overlooking the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-shin, which was erected in 1968 on the order of her father, President Park Chung-hee.

Before leaving on his cross-country campaign, Moon delivered his eleventh-hour speech in an aim to maximize the voter turnout.

“(The people’s) votes will triumph over the (ruling) power,” Moon said Tuesday at his election camp in Yeongdeungpo.

“No acts of sabotage or irregularities may sway the public sentiment now.”

The liberal candidate referred to the recent police probe on the allegations that the ruling party operated several illicit election offices, one of them involving a National Intelligence Service employee. His camp officials also blamed the prosecution for suddenly bringing up the disputed Northern Limit Line issue on Monday.

Moon allocated most of his speech to the importance of voting and the need to judge the current administration and ruling party.

His focus on voting reflected the general speculation that the liberal victory will only be possible if the final voter turnout breaks the 70 percent line.

“The most certain way to build a better country for yourselves is to vote,” Moon said.

“By abstaining, you would be turning a blind eye to the past five years, which have been full of flaws.”

While promoting voting, Moon also claimed that he had outrun Park over the past few days, though the quotation of detailed polls has been banned since last Thursday.

“Moon has recently taken the lead in polls, though within the margin of error,” said public communications chief Woo Sang-ho.

“A dramatic victory is possible, should this upward trend continue.”

After his speech, the candidate kicked off his southward electioneering day trip, starting from Cheonan, Chungcheong Province, and moving on to Daejeon, Daegu and Busan. He also canvassed Gangnam and Cheongnyangni, two popular downtown areas in Seoul, before leaving.

Former independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo supported Moon by holding street campaigns in downtown Seoul in the late afternoon. Ahn resigned his candidacy late last month, amid the two-way race for the opposition camp’s unified candidacy.

By Bae Hyun-jung and Samuel Songhoon Lee
(tellme@heraldcorp.com) (songhoon@heraldcorp.com">tellme@heraldcorp.com) (songhoon@heraldcorp.com)