Here's what each S. Korea's presidential candidates' economic visions look like

Another top priority for all three frontrunners is revitalizing South Korea's shrinking economy, a pledge that has taken center stage throughout the campaign.

Our economics correspondent Lee Soo-jin breaks down what each candidate is proposing to help get the economy back on its feet.

With economic institutions both at home and abroad revising down their growth projections for South Korea, economic pledges are taking center stage in the presidential race.

"The domestic economy shrank by 0.2% in the first quarter ---negative growth. How can our people make a living like this? Please elect Lee Jae-myung, a Lee Jae-myung, a capable, loyal, and well-prepared worker, as president."

"It's true that Korea is now in a slump, with very low growth, among the worst globally, right? I will bring this economy back to life as a president of the economy, everyone!"

Half of Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung's pledges focus on the economy,

while seven out of ten of People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo's are economic pledges.

And Lee's top economic pledge and Kim's second is artificial intelligence, signaling how both view it as central to Korea's economic growth.

Both propose investing 100 trillion won, or around 71 billion U.S. dollars, into fostering the AI industry but their plans of how they'll use these funds differ.

Lee Jae-myung's "AI for All" initiative aims to expand public access by offering free, advanced AI services, including a Korean version of ChatGPT, while also pledging to secure over 50 thousand high-performance GPUs.

Kim, plans to set up a public-private fund to foster AI unicorns and vows to train 200-thousand young specialists through graduate programs and software-focused universities.

But both agree that Korea's regulations are outdated ---with Lee calling for special exemptions, and Kim pushing to align regulations with global standards.

Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok, currently third in the polls, has proposed market-driven AI innovation with minimal state intervention.

And another issue that has garnered much attention is each candidate's bid to improve work-life balance.

" he (Lee Jae-myung) also focused on a 4-point-5 day workweek that is aimed at reducing worker fatigue and improving their work-life balance, . If you look at Kim Moon-soo's proposal, he believes that with good negotiations between workers and employers, a more flexible situation can be achieved without dramatic changes."

Lee has proposed reducing the standard workweek from 40 to 36 hours by cutting Friday afternoons , without reducing wages.

Kim's plan, adds an extra hour per day from Monday to Thursday for a shorter Friday without reducing total hours, and includes exemptions to the 52-hour cap for the semiconductor sector.

And Lee Jun-seok,.. instead of a 4-point-5-day workweek proposal, has pledged labor reforms that include giving local governments the authority to adjust the minimum wage to revitalize regional economies.

Though each candidate's visions differ, their focus on the economy underscores its central role in this election.

Lee Soo-jin, Arirang News.