[News UP] "Unprecedentedly close" U.S. presidential election, today's main vote...What's the local atmosphere?

■ Host: Anchor Yoon Jae-hee
■ Starring: Kim Dong-seok, CEO of the Korean Voters Association

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN News UP] when quoting.

[Anchor]
It is difficult to guarantee either side of the race, the fiercest race of all elections. Let's connect to the U.S. and point out the related contents. Kim Dong-seok, the representative of the Korean-American Voters Association, is connected. Hello, CEO.

[Kim Dong-seok]
Hello,

[Anchor]
It is not easy to predict the results because the two candidates are unprecedentedly close. How's the local atmosphere now?

[Kim Dong-seok]
Indeed, not all civil society has ever been more concentrated here than this election. The U.S. political interest was not high. I really don't know as I've been through the 7th presidential election myself. As you know, both candidates are very contradictory right now. It's a woman and a man. Black and white. Then the political tendency on the left of the progressive and the conservative tendency on the right. There are two candidates who are at odds with each other. But as the news continues to show, many opinion polls by pollsters have almost the same national approval rating, almost exactly the same one day before the election, so the atmosphere is splitting the U.S. into two countries exactly as we look at this election. It's split up. It's a day before the election in the atmosphere of seeing this.

[Anchor]
The two candidates were very passionate about smear campaigns toward each other until the last minute. What do you think?

[Kim Dong-seok]
At first, Trump said it was not the same as before, so I tried to run a normal campaign, but it wasn't. Moreover, coming at the end of the election, and in a few places where the election is very small like this, there are campaigns. It's very important to turn even one person on your side, so if you try to work well, you're very sensational toward the other person and it's very catchy. So, the negative goes up at the end, so there are so many things that I can't say. As expected, Trump has the upper hand in that aspect. In such a situation, the negative is at the end of the election, and the rude campaign is going on like this a day before.

[Anchor]
In the end, seven contending states were decided. There are a lot of analyses like this. Candidates are focusing on competing stocks until the last minute. What's the mood of the contenders?

[Kim Dong-seok]
Even if you have seven contending states at the very beginning, you're usually aware that the conservative right is in the south, so North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada on the South Belt are Trump's, and then Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania on the Rust Belt were Kamala Harris' support. But how close this is in each of the contending states, if one candidate goes to the region, the rise of that candidate goes up, and then another candidate goes there, so what's coming out of Harris' camp right now is that we're on the rise in Pennsylvania, where very important swing voters are concentrated. Let's go all out. That's why Kamala Harris herself will be there for the last time in Philadelphia, having toured five places all day. Even within the competition area, we are intensively campaigning in the competition area, and we are talking about this atmosphere.

[Anchor]
Shy Trump or Hidden Harris, the key is how this hidden vote will turn out, how do you see it?

[Kim Dong-seok]
Now Trump is no stranger. There are so many visible numbers of Trump supporters that there is no need to hide their support for Trump. Experts say that the number of shy Trumps has decreased compared to before. Just two days ago, Iowa, this was the Trump area. A poll by a specialized agency that polls relatively accurately in Iowa showed 3.5% Harris as high. With this, experts say Harris' lead in this election is the abortion issue, and white people and women are stingy about progressive politicians, and I can see such a female vote that will support Harris at the last minute after standing still because of abortion. Isn't this what the undecided voters of the rival states are doing? So Harris is now campaigning on the last Harris campaign as a very focused campaign strategy for the last Harris campaign to find hidden Harris and hidden Harris votes.

[Anchor]
Various policies came out during the election process. There is also the issue of abortion rights that you mentioned a while ago. There are immigration policies, economic policies, etc., so what are the policies that will influence voters the most?

[Kim Dong-seok]
As expected, it has been an economic issue so far. As you know, the U.S. is also under a lot of pressure from ordinary voters due to prices, so wasn't the old days good for all voters? But the economy was better during Trump. Thinking like this is 13-15% higher. It was the second immigration issue. Refugee, well done Trump for building a fence at the border during Trump. This is about 10% higher. Kamala Harris: It was very difficult. And suddenly, he became a candidate. When it comes to abortion, which was the third issue with an issue, this is still a key issue in the election board, and it is receiving a lot of attention from women. This was Harris' strength, and this issue has been an issue in the U.S. election, and the third issue at the last minute was that women saw it and previously this was evaluated by women from a religious point of view, but now it is open to a lot, so abortion is a women's right. This is the female majority. White women are also spotted here, taking pictures of Harris. By issue, we are at the end of the election in this situation.

[Anchor]
Mr. President, we are talking about the U.S. presidential election, and we are very interested in the fact that the supporters of this presidential election differ by gender. When Trump is making harsh comments towards young male voters, does this male supremacy strategy work?

[Kim Dong-seok]
This is seen as one of Trump's last-minute strategies to expand his base further. As you said, Trump's supporters are interested in white people, and young people are interested in Trump talking nonsense, and Trump is very bizarre. If you look at it, there are more white young people than you think, but I think this is what to do to connect to the votes, so I'm pouring out a lot of comments at the end that are connected to white people's blunt machos. I'm campaigning for this, and it's a statement from Kamala Harris, who is also highly educated, women, and people of color rather than white people in the city. This is Kamala Harris' supporters, who are also male-dominated among white people in the countryside, and who still have an absolute majority of voters, are Trump's supporters. This is exactly divided into two factions and what you can see, and in this situation, you are now campaigning for the supporters.

[Anchor]
There is also an analysis that female voters are now turning to Harris. There was also a rumor that a note is spreading in the women's bathroom. What does it mean?

[Kim Dong-seok]
As I said earlier, it's like Shy Trump. It's very hard for a white woman to say that she supports Kamala Harris, an Asian black woman, and a candidate who suddenly appeared. However, when it comes to abortion issues, isn't he the only one who works for our women and photographs them? That's why such votes show up here and there between women, and Harris Camp is openly presenting a report that collects such stories in Harris Camp and comes up to the camp headquarters. That's why we're talking about it at the end of the day because there are reports that are appearing in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, and here. So on the Harris camp side, there is no difference and it seems like we are losing ground, but we really don't have time, it's a waste of time. In one more day, this kind of talk is just coming out of Harris camp.

[Anchor]
Earlier, a New York correspondent told us that bulletproof glass is also appearing and iron fences are also appearing because of concerns about possible violence or riots. Please also deliver the tense atmosphere.

[Kim Dong-seok]
It didn't exist, but it was created since Trump came into politics. In the U.S., the minority tried to raise turnout even in the U.S. society of "Vote a lot anyway," but now voting is almost a fear. It has already been in the news because voters are very wary and uncomfortable about verifying voting centers and working for the safety of polling stations, but this is also why there have been more early voting and mail-in voting. In each neighborhood, especially in competitive areas, we formed a volunteer monitoring team and released too many people, so I'm very anxious that Trump will never accept it if he loses the election result. The situation is showing that this is visible.

[Anchor]
When do you expect the results to be outlined locally?

[Kim Dong-seok]
Four years ago, Pennsylvania was inconclusive, and the outline appeared four days later, four years ago. I'll do more this year. Because Trump has been on the campaign trail all year long, and reporters have asked everything. Are you going to accept the result? I didn't answer. Recently, the sky has come down, so I'll believe it when I manage the election. Don't vote by mail and vote face to face early. Because I don't believe in mail-in voting. 40 million people have already voted by mail. Also, in each contested area, if there was a slight flaw in Trump's disadvantage, he filed a lawsuit. So there are probably two scenarios, and one is Trump winning or not coming to a conclusion. Since Trump does not conclude, the election in the United States concludes even if the loser loses, but Trump is unlikely to do it. Maybe for about two weeks, it will be outlined and declared, and if Trump loses, he will disobey and lead to a lawsuit. Sixty percent of citizens expect this to be the case, which is being polled by each media outlet.

[Anchor]
The citizens answered that they thought it would take more than two weeks. At the same time as this presidential election, there will be elections for the House and Senate, and four Korean politicians are running in the federal upper and lower house elections?

[Kim Dong-seok]
There are six people who are running for Congress and are now on the campaign trail. Five in the House of Representatives and one in the Senate. Originally, there were four people in the House of Commons. Among them, if Representative Andy Kim races in the Senate and elections tomorrow, more than 90% of Korean Americans will enter the Senate for the first time in history. It's very exciting. Then, of the other three, Representative Young Kim and Marilyn Strilklund are in a stable position, and the opposition Democratic Party candidate has come up with a high approval rating of 3 to 4%.

I'm very anxious about this part, and besides that, Dave Min, who is almost in the middle of the election, is in the middle of the campaign, and David Kim, a strong Mexican lawmaker, is trying for the third time in the L.A. area, and now he is in the middle of the race. At best, there are expectations that there will be five Koreans, one Senate, and five House of Representatives, and from a very cold perspective, three or two House of Representatives, and one Senate, I think they will maintain this.

[Anchor]
I see. I hope there will be good results. I was with Kim Dong-seok, CEO of the Korean-American Voters Association. Thank you for talking with me today.