South Korea Election: Missile, Wildfire Test Contender Response

(Bloomberg) -- A natural disaster and North Korea's latest missile launch clouded South Korea's already-tight presidential race, with candidates competing to prove their capability of dealing with emergencies just four days before election day.

North Korea reminded its neighbor of its persistent security threat by firing a suspected ballistic missile Saturday. Progressive candidate Lee Jae-myung, who has pledged to seek rapprochement with Pyongyang, responded swiftly and condemned Pyongyang in a post from his social media, saying “nothing can be achieved” by making military provocations.

North Korea Fires Suspected Missile Days Before South's Vote

The main conservative candidate, Yoon Suk-yeol, hadn't issued any comment within the first few hours of the launch. The test-fire of a rocket could add to his calls to take a tougher line on North Korea to punish it for its saber rattling, after current President Moon Jae-in sought to warm ties between the neighbors.

Meanwhile, South Korea was battling a wildfire that broke out in the eastern coastal county of Uljin, temporarily threatening a nuclear power plant and causing thousands of residents to flee their homes. As of Friday evening, around 1,000 firefighters were battling the blaze and trying to prevent it from reaching a liquefied natural gas facility near the city of Samcheok.

Yoon was quick to visit the fire scene and met victims on Friday evening. Lee arrived a few hours later and vowed to offer substantial support.

Early voting continued for its second and final day amid record daily infections of Covid-19. As of 11 a.m. Saturday, more than 23% of voters had cast their ballots, which was 10 percentage points higher than at the same time in early voting for the last presidential election five years ago.

Countdown:

Four days to go before the March 9 election day. The winner of the single-round, nationwide poll becomes the next president and will serve one five-year term. The new leader will be sworn in on May 10 and replaces incumbent Moon.

Candidates:

Lee Jae-myung, 57, of Moon's Democratic Party and a former governor of Gyeonggi, the country's most populous province
Yoon Suk-yeol, 61, of the conservative People Power Party and a former prosecutor general
Sim Sang-jung, a minor candidate with the Justice Party who also ran unsuccessfully for president in 2017

Yoon and Lee are the clear front-runners for the race that looks to be the most wide open for president since the advent of full democracy about 35 years ago.

Key stories and developments:

North Korea Fires Suspected Missile Days Before South's Vote
Retail Stock Traders Become Key Voting Bloc in S.Korea's Election
Won is Worst Performer in Asia Dollar Index as Elections Near
South Korea's Inflation Accelerates Ahead of Presidential Vote
South Korean Asset Managers Freeze Russia Funds Amid Sanctions
Here Are the Contenders to Be South Korea's Next President

Media roundup:

Korea Cuts Run-Rate at Nuclear Reactors After Fire Near Plant(1)
Samsung Suspends Shipments of Phones, Chips to Russia
S. Korea to Get Exemption From U.S. Export Sanctions on Russia
Won is Worst Performer in Asia Dollar Index as Elections Near
South Korea Prime Minister Tests Positive for Covid-19

Polls:

Polls have offered varying assessments of who is leading, with the final one showing both Lee and Yoon were in the 40% range, with Yoon slightly ahead. No new polling is allowed to be published from after Thursday until voting ends on election day.

Yoon's campaign received a boost when a minor conservative candidate suspended his campaign and offered Yoon support. Most polls taken just before that happened showed the move, which unified the conservative candidates, would push Yoon ahead by a few percentage points in a hypothetical two-way race with Lee.

Another factor that may benefit Yoon is that about 54% of voters want a change of power from the progressives, according a survey by Korea Information Research released last Wednesday. The poll also said only 37.4% wanted Moon's Democratic Party to stay in the presidential Blue House.