Staying with the elections in the country,... though the polling stations are open for those who cannot vote on June 13th,... candidates are still in campaign mode,... rallying for support like there's no tomorrow.
So far though,... the ruling party has a commanding lead.
Kim Min-ji has the details.
In final opinion polls allowed to be released ahead of the June 13th local elections on Wednesday,... the ruling Democratic Party of Korea appears on track to sweep to victory.
The ruling party is in the lead in 14 of the 17 metropolitan cities or provinces,... including Seoul,... and even traditional conservative strongholds such as Ulsan and Busan.
The main opposition Liberty Korea Party,... which initially aimed to win at least six areas,... is in the lead in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province,... while the southeastern city of Daegu falls within the margin of error.
An independent candidate is leading in Jeju-do Province.

Up until election day,... the ruling party says it will be doing all it can to secure its supporter-base in conservative strongholds.
The main opposition, meanwhile, is trying to reverse the trend,... by implementing a new two-track strategy -- with the party's leadership focusing on policy making,... such as promoting solutions to boost the faltering economy,... while party lawmakers are supporting campaigning in their districts.
But with less than a week left,... it's unclear whether any variable will be big enough to turn the tables.

"The inter-Korean summit and the North Korea-U.S. summit have had a big impact on the local elections. And as we can see, the positive developments have been reflected in the polls. On top of that, the opposition bloc hasn't been able to bring up an issue to outweigh that attention. What's different in this election is that voters want to show their support for the government,... rather than necessarily choosing the best candidate."

Initially, it was believed an opinion rigging scandal involving a ruling party member... and the struggling economy,... could erode the popularity of the ruling party.
And now with prospects gone for a possible merging of candidates,... the remaining variables are voter turnout and swing voters.
A glint of hope for the main opposition is the bloc of voters referred to as "shy conservatives" -- those that don't tell pollsters that they support the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.

"There are bound to be people like this,... as we saw in the presidential election last year. But the problem for the main opposition party is that it has positioned itself badly. They are supposed to be an alternative to the ruling party. But they haven't really been able to cut their ties to the impeachment of a former president,... and all they're doing is criticizing the government. If they'd supported the positive results,... while criticizing where the government has come up short,... they'd stand a much better chance."

Should the outcome of the local elections fal