As South Koreans head for polls, Moon gains currency with coronavirus crisis handling
- The country’s parliamentary elections are being seen by many as a referendum on Moon Jae-in’s handling of the pandemic
- The polls will be seen as a test case for the US, Singapore and Hong Kong, where votes are also looming
“The coronavirus crisis has opened up a black hole and all the other election issues have disappeared,” said Hong Deuk-pyo, a professor emeritus at Inha University in Incheon, about 30km outside Seoul. “It will be an election about the coronavirus.”
The vote, the first major national election to take place since the novel coronavirus was identified in China late last year, will be a test case for the authorities overseas facing thorny logistical and civil liberties questions ahead of their own elections in the weeks and months ahead.
Although the pandemic has prompted the authorities in Ethiopia and London to postpone upcoming polls, South Korea’s National Election Commission has opted instead for precautionary measures for voters aimed at ensuring the election to pick all 300 members of the National Assembly can go ahead safely.