CANDIDATES TOUR AROUND NATION

[Anchor Lead]

The Democratic Party's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung met with startup firms that help working women and stressed striking a balance between work and family. He also unveiled pledges on childcare and education. The People Power Party's candidate Yoon Suk-yeol campaigned in Incheon and vowed to turn around the presidential race as dramatically as the Incheon Landing Operation during the Korean War.

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Lee Jae-myung met with heads of women-led startups and listened to their grievances, emphasizing balance between work and family. He proposed enforcing childcare leave on fathers and said the Green Mothers' Society, a volunteer group that helps children go to school safely, should be converted to public sector jobs. Lee's move is seen as taking a different step from his rival Yoon Suk-yeol who has called for abolishing the gender equality and family ministry.

[Soundbite] Lee Jae-myung(DP Pres. Candidate) : "We need mechanisms to make childcare responsibilities between men and women even."

Lee also promised to have all elementary school students attend classes until 3 p.m. and extend after-school childcare to 7 p.m. Meanwhile, Yoon Suk-yeol visited an industrial complex in Incheon and called for the flexible application of the 52-hour workweek. He also expressed confidence in achieving a dramatic shift in the ongoing election race, saying it will be as dramatic as the Incheon Landing Operation during the Korean War. Yoon's pledges include creating a new Great Train Express line connecting Yeongjongdo Island and Namyangju in Gyeonggido Province and turning the Gyeongin rail line's Incheon section into an underground subway.

[Soundbite] Yoon Suk-yeol(PPP Pres. Candidate) : "I will establish a traffic network that enables 30-minute travel to downtown Seoul."

Yoon also promised to find an alternative site to the waste landfill in Incheon which handles all waste from the capital area. The Justice Party's presidential candidate Sim Sang-jung further advocated her "greenomix" economic policy vision, vowing to facilitate green growth and create 1.5 million jobs. The People's Party's Ahn Cheol-soo confronted some campaign pledges put out by the frontrunners. He criticized Lee's health insurance coverage plan for hair loss medication as a money-guzzling idea. He also questioned Yoon's pledge to pay soldiers a 2 million won monthly wage, asking what he's going to do about the wages of non-commissioned officers.