hankyoreh

at the National Assembly

By Hwang June-beom, staff writer

On Sunday, Gyeonggi province governor Kim Moon-soo became the first presidential candidate from the ruling party camp to officially declare his candidacy. Former New Frontier Party (NFP) chairman Chung Mong-joon and former Minister for Special Affairs Lee Jae-oh, as well as special Democratic United Party (DUP) senior advisers Moon Jae-in and Sohn Hak-kyu, are also expected to make official announcements of their intentions to run in the near future, prompting expectations of a multi-horse race for the presidency. The National Election Commission is accepting registrations for provisional candidates from Monday.

Announcing his candidacy, Kim said, “Many people have said this is like trying to break a rock by throwing an egg at it, but there are many cases where eggs do break rocks. I will fight hard with the belief that this is possible.” Kim’s rate of support, as he issues this challenge to Park Geun-hye, is around 3%. Park currently holds 40% of national support.

Chung and Lee are preparing presidential bids from similarly weak positions. This is what is prompting interest in the question of whether the NFP “non-Park alliance” of Kim, Chung and Lee can undermine Park’s broad support. Chung is due to proclaim his candidacy at the end of this month, and Lee on around May 10.

The three politicians held separate meetings immediately after the April 11 general election and agreed to slow down the general flow in Park‘s favor and create new momentum. The three men are diving into the race while claiming that victory in the main presidential election cannot be guaranteed with Park as the NFP’s candidate. The possibility of the three anti-Park figures eventually uniting under one banner is already being talked about.

What Kim, Chung and Lee all have in common is that their political bases lay in the Seoul metropolitan region. All three have emphasized that Park has repeatedly shown weakness in this area. “The number of votes [gained by the NFP] in the last general election must be regarded as the maximum we can get with Park dominating,” said one figure from Lee’s camp. “What’s more, the turnout will increase by 10% percentage points at the presidential election. Where are all those votes going to go?”

Kim, Chung and Lee also favor changing the NFP’s means of choosing presidential candidates to full public primaries in which the door is open to both party members and non-members, with no set ratio. This results from the judgment that the current system, which reflects party members and members of the general public at a 50-50 ratio, works to the advantage of Park, who is in control of the party organization nationwide.

For now, the three men are emphasizing their respective strengths as they enter the presidential race. Kim cites his experience as an activist, his having been elected three times election as a lawmaker and twice as governor of Gyeonggi province, while Chung, controlling shareholder of Hyundai heavy Industries, emphasizes his expertise in the fields of economics and diplomacy and his support among young voters and Lee points to his experience in the struggle against dictatorship and anti-corruption activity.

“What’s important for now is that each of them runs in the primaries and expands [his support] as much as possible,” said one figure familiar with the three men’s situations. He left the possibility of unity open, saying, “Unification of the three is an issue to be judged later on, according to the circumstances.” It is possible, moreover, that NFP lawmakers Chung Doo-eon and Kim Tae-ho, and former Prime Minister Chung Un-chan from outside the party, will run in the NFP primary, opening the possibility that the alliance of anti-Park candidates will grow yet more diverse.

April 20. (by Lee Jung-woo

One pro-Park lawmaker, however, predicted, “It won’t be easy, because proclaiming candidacy and then giving up half way amounts to no more than playing a sidekick.” In other words, anti-Park candidates may form an alliance if they think they can overtake Park, but if the overall flow in favor of Park remains unaltered, they will each start making plans regarding the party hegemony or the following presidential election when the primaries are over.

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