Anchor: With the 22nd general elections a day away, both ruling and opposition parties are exerting all-out efforts to garner votes in the widely-contested Seoul metropolitan area. Both parties have stressed that the other should face voters’ judgment in the elections. In today's installment of our report series on the current political landscapes of the nation's major cities and provinces, our Yun Sohyang takes a look at where things stand in the decisive region. 

Report: With 122 out of a total of 300 parliamentary seats up for grabs in the Seoul metropolitan area, interim leader of the ruling People Power Party(PPP) Han Dong-hoon and Democratic Party(DP) leader Lee Jae-myung are both making one final push in the all-important area before the nation head to the polls on Wednesday. 

In the previous general elections, the DP dominated the Seoul metropolitan region winning 103 out of the 121 seats available that year.

In a bid to garner more supporters in the Gyeonggi region, the PPP has been reassuring voters of their pledge to incorporate Gimpo and other neighboring cities into Seoul under its “Mega Seoul” initiative while the DP denounced the plan as a political maneuver and said that the government should come up with a concrete plan. 

One of the highly-contested areas is Incheon's Gyeyang B district where two presidential hopefuls — DP leader Lee and former land minister Won Hee-ryong of the PPP — will face off. The DP has won in this district in all previous general elections except one. 

Dr. Bong Young-sik of Yonsei University says that this battle in Incheon is a reflection of how this election is widely seen as a midterm referendum on President Yoon Suk Yeol as well as a vote of confidence on the opposition party after holding majority control in the Assembly for the past four years.

[Sound bite: Dr. Bong Young-sik of Yonsei University (English)]
"So, the voters, when they’re seeing the candidates in Incheon Gyeyang, or any other districts, they do not see Mr Lee Jae-myung or Mr Won Hee-ryong or their candidates, but they see the face of President Yoon Seok Yul behind the face of each candidate of the PPP….The opposition parties framed this election as an opportunity for the voters to assess the accountability for the president’s office and the ruling party — whether they held up the principle of fairness and justice since the inauguration of President Yoon Suk Yeol as he promised during the presidential election campaign."

The Seongnam-Bundang A district in Gyeonggi Province is another hotly contested area for the two parties. 

The co-chair of the DP’s election committee, Lee Kwang-jae, is going head to head against the co-chief of the PPP’s election committee, Ahn Cheol-soo, in the district which was first created ahead of the 16th general elections in 2000.  

Apart from the 20th general elections, candidates from the PPP’s predecessors were elected in the said district. 

Lee has served as a three-term lawmaker and as the governor of Gangwon Province and was the National Assembly’s secretary-general up until last year while Ahn has run for president three times. 

[Sound bite: Dr. Bong Young-sik of Yonsei University (English)]  
“If the DP is going to carry the Seongnam-Bundang A meaning that Mr. Lee Gwang-jae, former governor of Gangwon Province, winning the former president candidate Mr Ahn Cheol-soo, in Seongnam-Bundang it will be shocking.  Ahn is regarded next presidential hopeful after the presidency of Yoon. Seongnam-Bundang A  has been extremely conservative electoral district. So if Lee defeats Dr. Ahn, then it’s equivalent to the Democratic candidate carrying the state of Texas in the American presidential election."

With such a large number of seats up for grabs, the makeup of the 22nd National Assembly will likely depend on which party fares better in the Seoul metro area. 
Yun Sohyang, KBS World Radio News.