SEOUL, With the general elections only three days away, the rival parties made last-ditch efforts to woo voters in capital regions and closely contested districts Sunday, after the turnout in early voting hit an all-time high of 31.28 percent. Ruling People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon canvassed the central city of Daejeon and its surrounding Chungcheong Provinces on Sunday, making his third visit to the region since kicking off campaigning last month. The area is considered a swing state with one of the highest number of constituencies the PPP considers are too close to call. In the city of Daejeon, Han pandered to voters by promising to develop the region by boosting the research and development budget for sciences and technology, as well as reiterating his pledge to relocate the National Assembly building to the city of Sejong. "If the entire parliament moves to Chungcheong, it also means a relocation of the country's center. This will cause a trickle-down effect in the economy and businesses to other surrounding regions," Han said. Describing some candidates from the opposition bloc as criminals, Han also urged voters to support the PPP to prevent them from controlling the country in the next National Assembly. "Criminal suspects will run the country the way they want in order to protect themselves. And in the course of that, many foundations we have established will collapse and the Korea-U.S. alliance could collapse," Han said. Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung campaigned in his constituency of Gyeyang in Incheon, west of Seoul, before visiting the three conservative districts in Seoul's posh Gangnam district, considered a stronghold of the PPP. He urged voters to hold the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol accountable for mismanaging state affairs, while accusing Yoon of abusing his presidential power to pursue personal benefits. "Please send a warning to those who use the entrusted power to pursue personal benefits instead of improving people's lives," he said during a campaign tr ail in the Gyeyang-B district. "If they don't listen even if we hold up a stick, then we need to take away their power." Voter interest in this year's elections is high as shown in the record turnout in early voting held Friday and Saturday, in which 13,849,043 out of 44,280,011 eligible voters cast their ballots ahead of Wednesday's main vote. It marked the first time the early-voting turnout for general elections exceeded 30 percent since South Korea introduced the system in 2014. In the previous parliamentary elections in 2020, the turnout was 26.69 percent. The quadrennial race holds significance, as the results will determine whether President Yoon Suk Yeol's ruling party wrests back control of parliament or renders Yoon a lame duck for his remaining three years in office. Source: Yonhap News Agency