Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung is making efforts to rally support in the conservative footholds of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, where the liberal camp traditionally struggles.

Lee was expected to travel to the cities of Gyeongju, Yeongcheon, Chilgok, Gimcheon, Seongju and Goryeong on Friday as part of his two-day campaign tour of the region, known as the Yeongnam Silla Belt.

The Democratic Party has vowed to do better in this electoral territory, where it has only won around ten to twenty percent of the votes in past elections.

Since former President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in December and was subsequently ousted, the party believes there has been a shift in sentiment among local conservative voters, who have been further disappointed by the recent conflict between People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo and independent candidate Han Duck-soo.

Lee ran against Yoon in 2022 and garnered 21-point-six percent of the votes in Daegu and 23-point-eight percent of the votes in North Gyeongsang Province, while former President Moon Jae-in got similar results when he ran on the Democratic Party ticket in the previous election. 

The Democratic Party said it expects the upcoming election on June 3 will be a little different and has called on local party members to aim for 30 percent of the vote in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.