hankyoreh

According to an official of the ruling-camp-affiliated United New Democratic Party (UNDP), who spoke on condition of anonymity, "Due to the Shin Jeong-ah scandal, many people have taken issue with the morality of President Roh Moo-hyun's participatory government, as well as that of the liberal administrations that have headed Korea for a decade. It has become more difficult to explain to the people why we should stay in power," the official continued.


"Approval ratings for President Roh's handling of state affairs, which were around 35 percent, are expected to drop to about 20 percent due to the latest scandal,'' mentioned a key official of the Presidential Office.




The scandal surrounding former Dongguk University professor Shin Jeong-ah -- who was disgraced under allegations she forged her academic credentials -- has reached a crescendo just three months ahead of the presidential election, with further allegations that she had ties to one of President Roh's former aides. Though the facts of the incident have not been clearly revealed, it is nonetheless expected to have a significant impact on the presidential election.



The scandal erupted at a very delicate moment. As the incident has been snowballing into a kind of 'influence-peddling-gate' just three months before the presidential election, its impact on the presidential election is increasing. Neither the camp in the offensive nor the one in the defensive has much time to recover their past position before the presidential election.

Above all, President Roh's growing frustration, which is considered an important factor influencing people's choice in the upcoming presidential election, will likely have the largest negative impact on the December poll results. Though under Korean law he may only serve a single term, the president has so far declared his willingness to support the UNDP candidate in the upcoming elections. His eagerness to back the party's candidate is based on his moral confidence that there have been no influence-peddling or corruption scandals involving his aides. However, owing to the Shin scandal, officials of the Presidential Office are facing shame due to the fact that the moral authority of the Roh administration has taken a blow and the president's voice has been weakened.


As a result, people are losing their interest in the UNDP's primary race. An official of the UNDP's primary committee said, "Even if a candidate is selected through the primary, approval ratings for the party won't go up unless he or she avoids the public and media spotlight.''


With President Roh's political influence weakening, the position of the UNDP's presidential hopefuls, who are considered "pro-Roh,'' could be damaged, and such a situation could cause the decline of the pull of any candidate in the pro-Roh camp. Indeed, painful for the UNDP is that the party has lost its ground to persuade people regarding its justification for the liberal base to stay in power. Disputes surrounding its morality will likely worsen the party's already low popularity.


With the UNDP damaged, it is highly possible that Lee Myung-bak, presidential candidate of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), will thus benefit from the Shin scandal. The GNP has obtained a card with which it can counterattack the pan-ruling camp, which is currently looking for any way it can to verify Lee's qualifications. The National Assembly's regular session, which was anticipated to be a parliamentary inspection of Lee, might focus instead on the Shin scandal. Rep. Hong Joon-pyo of the GNP, head of a special committee to investigate the influence-peddling scandal, said, "The best strategy is not to give a chance for the ruling camp to 'shower negatives' on Lee Myung-bak. Instead, we will carpet-bomb the ruling camp instead, so that it doesn't have a chance."


With the influence-peddling scandal the talk of the town, the GNP now has a powerful weapon with which to deflect any aggressive attempts to challenge Lee's qualifications during the parliamentary verification process.