Daeseon

The South Korean presidential election will be held tomorrow, December 19th. It's always hard to understand the details of another country's politics, especially when there is a language barrier, but as our stay here coincides with the height of election campaigning, we've tried to take the opportunity to learn a little about it.

Official campaign activity began a few weeks ago, and each candidate was assigned an official number. All around town (and presumably around the country) you can see posters of the candidates and their official numbers, like this:


There are trucks that drive around the streets with people on board talking into loudspeakers and mini-rallies with music and dancing. These rallies seem to be rah-rah type events, and I wonder whether substantive information about the candidates' positions can be conveyed. The candidates all seem to have a theme song, and a theme color, and supporters wear matching outfits and dance along to the theme song.

In the crowded field of twelve candidates, there seem to be three serious contenders, Numbers 1, 2, and 12. Candidate number 1, Chung Dong-young, is the ruling party candidate. Like the current president, Roh Moo-hyun, Chung is considered to be a liberal and his main campaign position is to continue engagement with North Korea. However, Roh, who is wrapping up the single five-year term that he is limited to, is currently very unpopular and the members of his party have changed its name from the Uri Party (Our Party) to the United New Democratic Party in an effort to distance themselves from him. Despite the name change, Chung is running a distant second.

The apparent front-runner is candidate number 2, Lee Myung-bak, of the Grand National Party. A former businessman, he served as mayor of Seoul and instituted a number of changes that even we, as newcomers to the city, can see now. He completely reworked the Seoul bus system, changing the routings and installing bus-only lanes. He also oversaw the daylighting of Cheonggyecheon, a stream that runs through the center of Seoul which was covered by an elevated highway for about 40 years. Lee has been dogged by scandals, and the parliament has just voted to open an investigation into fraud allegations against him. However, many Koreans seem not to be bothered by potential ethical issues. Koreans seem to feel that the current economy is bad, and based on his track record as mayor of Seoul, many people see Lee as a pragmatist who can get things done.

Running a close third is candidate number 12, Lee Hoi-chang. This Lee founded the Grand National Party, and was the party's candidate in the previous two elections, but retired from politics after losing to Roh in a close race in 2002. In November, Lee suddenly entered this year's race as an independent, much later than all the other candidates. The most conservative of the three major candidates, Lee explained his un-retirement by claiming to be dissatisfied with Lee Myung-bak's candidacy, particularly his stance toward North Korea. The Grand National Party seems to have moved to the center since he left the party, and overall Koreans seem less concerned with the issue of North-South relations.

This is, of course, a very simplified summary of the election. I'd welcome comments from anyone who knows more about the subject.