South Korean Politics and Elections

Chung captures 2 more primaries to take huge lead

Has won the voting at all four events held by liberal party with four to go

JoongAng Daily, October 1, 2007

Former television news anchor Chung Dong-young yesterday swept to his fourth victory in four primaries, taking a commanding lead in the competition to become the liberal party presidential candidate.

Yesterday, Chung garnered the most votes in the key spots of Busan and South Gyeongsang, according to results from the United New Democratic Party.

Chung won 11,150 votes in the southeastern region, known as a stronghold of Lee Hae-chan, who came in second with 10,890 votes. Sohn Hak-kyu came in last with 8,577.

On Saturday, Chung won in Gwangju and South Jeolla, the regions in the country where the party is most popular.

Chung leads with 51,125 votes overall. Sohn Hak-kyu is second with 37,851 votes and Lee Hae-chan is third with 29,641 votes. There are four primaries left before a winner is formally announced.

Calling for a war against Lee Myung-bak, the conservative party front-runner, Chung said, “I now will start proving that the public belief that Lee will win the presidential race is wrong,” he said.

The voter turnout in the primaries was small. Only 14.6 percent, or 3,629 people from the electoral college, voted in the Busan/South Gyeongsang primary while the turnout was 22.6 percent in the the Gwangju/South Jeolla Province area.

“The most significant part of this primary is the low turnout from the Gwangju and South Jeolla area,” said Kang Won-taek, a political scientist at Soongsil University. “Liberal candidates have an excessively low approval rate, so even the most politically enthusiastic region did not take much interest in the primary.”

Another expert pointed out that Kim Dae-jung’s influence in the Jeolla provinces, where he was born and raised, may be waning.

“Despite Kim being deeply involved in creating the new liberal coalition, the low turnout shows that people from Jeolla are no longer as devoted toward Kim,” said Kim Min-jeon, a professor at Kyung Hee University.

The top candidates exchanged bitter words. Chung Bong-ju, a lawmaker from Sohn’s camp, opened a press conference in Busan accusing Chung’s supporters of physically assaulting a female lawmaker from Sohn’s camp.

Chung’s camp said no one had deliberately tried to hurt anyone and that it was an accidental scuffle that broke out after Sohn’s side accused them of using illegal means to gain votes.

By Chae Byung-gun, Kim Jung-ha JoongAng Ilbo [mina@joongang.co.kr]

Main GNP contenders narrow gap in approval ratings

Park’s ratings rise, but not enough to capture Lee’s former supporters

Hankyoreh, July 9, 2007

According a survey of the approval ratings of the two leading presidential hopefuls of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) executed by Research Plus at the request of The Hankyoreh on June 16, Lee Myung-bak, former Seoul mayor, and Park Geun-hye, former party chairwoman, won 37.7 percent and 25.6 percent, respectively. The gap between the two presidential contenders narrowed 2.6 percentage points from 14.7 percentage points in the previous survey.

This is the first time this year that Lee’s popularity has dropped to below 40 percent in polls performed by The Hankyoreh and Research Plus. Polls conducted earlier this year showed that Lee had been maintaining an approval rating higher than 40 percent. The reported drop in Lee’s popularity can be attributed to a recent series of public inquiries into allegations of wrongdoing in Lee’s past real estate speculations.

Park’s popularity rating has shown a slight upward tendency for four consecutive months, but the numbers demonstrate that Park has not yet won the hearts of those who used to support Lee. Though Lee’s approval rating fell 2.4 percentage points from last month, Park’s rating recorded an increase of just 0.2 percentage points. Elsewhere, Park has recorded a rapid upswing in approval ratings, especially in Daegu, Busan and South and North Gyeongsang Provinces, which are conservative regions and considered to be a GNP stronghold, while Lee has continued to maintain a higher popularity rating than Park in the metropolitan areas.

Lee and Park were followed by former Gyeonggi Governor Sohn Hak-kyu whose approval rating was at 7.5 percent, former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan at 3.7 percent and former Uri Party Chairman Chung Dong-young at 2.2 percent. Sohn has maintained the top position among the presidential hopefuls from the ‘‘pan-ruling party circle’’ since he posted 3.9 percent in April. The survey, with a plus or minus 3.7-percentage-point margin of error and a 95-percent confidence level, was conducted through telephone interviews with 700 people aged 19 or older from across the nation.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

Roh Vows Full Support for Constituency Port Project

Chosun Ilbo, December 28, 2006

President Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday said the government will spare no effort to redevelop Busan’s North Port, which he said offered an example for the way Korea should go. "I want to build a perfect foundation for the project during my term," he said after being briefed on the North Port redevelopment plan at the Busan Port Authority. The plan is to turn a 1.4 million sq. m site around the old North Port into an international “hub” of marine business and tourism by building new facilities there for a whopping W9.26 trillion (US$1=W931) to be spent between 2008 and 2020.

Dong-gu in Busan, where the port is located, is Roh’s political base, the constituency that first elected him to the 13th National Assembly in 1988. He was also the first to come up with plans to develop the port when he was minister of maritime affairs and fisheries. The government budget for the year 2007 earmarks W52.9 billion for developing the North Port and another W8 billion on building roads linking it to the new port.

Roh Attacks ‘Privilege’ in Media, Prosecution

Chosun Ilbo, December 28, 2006

President Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday continued his verbal broadsides, attributing public hostility to his performance to “vested interests” such as public prosecutors, business and the media whose privileges he set out to erode. The president made the remarks at a luncheon meeting in Busan after being briefed on the progress on the re-development of Busan North Port. “Ending the age where irregularities are commonplace and some social groups enjoy special benefits was one of my presidential campaign pledges. I think the job is almost done. Among government agencies, the prosecution is the strongest. Outside the government, the business circle is the most powerful, and the media is next,” he said.

Park Trails Lee in Presidential Poll

(SKPE Note:  I am not sure why the Dong-A is reporting on a poll taken several weeks ago.  Perhaps it is a mistake.)

The Dong-A Ilbo, November 20, 2006

Former Grand National Party chairwoman Park Geun-hye is