hankyoreh

By Kim Oi-hyun, staff writer　

South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Doo-kwan, 54, is set to declare his plans to run for the presidency on July 1. With his announcement, a three-way race is taking shape between him, Moon Jae-in, and Sohn Hak-kyu for the Democratic United Party nomination.

An associate said Wednesday that Kim had reached a decision to resign as governor on July 1 and formally declare his run for the presidential nomination. “He had been steeling his determination to run before, but he only just now set the date for his declaration,” the associate added.

The associate explained the significance of the July 1 date by saying, “It is one day after the halfway point in his term [as governor], since he determined that he should present himself as a responsible person by completing at least half his term as governor.”

Kim went from Namhae County governor to become the first Minister of Government Administration & Home Affairs in the Roh Moo-hyun administration, which earned him the nickname “Little Roh”. Kim’s combination of self-made success and political prowess led some to consider him a possible presidential candidate early in his career.

Following his election as governor in 2010, Kim held an inauguration ceremony on July 1 in front of Gyeongnam Provincial Office.

Kim is currently organizing two camps in Seoul, one near the National Assembly and in the prestigious Gangnam neighborhood to prepare for his campaign. The Gangnam camp is known to include such figures as former Blue House policy office director Kim Byung-joon, former senior secretary for public relations Yoon Seung-yong, and former lawmaker Kim Jae-hong. Across from the National Assembly in Yeouido, he has the fan club “Everyone Together” and the Autonomous Decentralization Institute, a think tank headed by Won Hye-yeong.

Camp spokesperson Park Jae-gu and Human Rights Foundation SARAM executive director Park Lae-goon are serving as aides. Also contributing is the governor’s younger brother Doo-soo, former deputy secretary-general for the DUP. All together, around seventy people are working on Kim’s campaign.

Kim’s background story was a major factor in his early recognition as a strong presidential contender. This includes periods working for the dissident democratization movement and farmers’ movement in the mid-to-late 1980s. Kim has administrative experience in going from village head to Cabinet minister to governor, and has made seven bids for local election constituencies in the New Frontier Party stronghold of South Gyeongsang province. Born into a poor family in the province’s Namhae County, Kim abandoned his university plans for life as a farmer in 1978 since he couldn’t afford tuition fees. Eventually, he moved from Kyungbuk College in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang province, into the political science and diplomacy department of Dong-A University.

After his 1986 arrest over involvement in the Popular Alliance for Democratic Unification, Kim resolved to join the farmers’ movement and formed the Namhae Farmers‘ Association in his hometown.

Elected head of the county’s Ieo Village in 1988, Kim went on to become Namhae‘s first democratically elected governor in 1995, making him the youngest local government head in the country at the time. But it was with the former village headman’s 2003 appointment as Ministry of Government Administration & Home Affairs that he truly began to show his mettle in public office.

Even as he enjoyed this dazzling rise, he also faced the agony of defeat, losing three bids for a National Assembly seat and only succeeding in being elected to the governorship on his third try in 2010.

As a political contender, Kim is vulnerable. Labels of “low support” and “low name recognition” continue to dog him. Recent opinion polls showed his support ratings at 1% to 1.5%. A recent Case Partners survey on recognition of presidential contenders showed Kim’s level at 26.8%, last among potential candidates. Additionally, his image as a “Roh man” overlaps with Democratic United Party permanent adviser Moon Jae-in, who is viewed as the party’s leading prospect.

“Governor Kim’s strength lies in his being a member of the working class with moderate leanings, as well as his having a solid local base in South Gyeongsang, which is very beneficial for the opposition,” said Myongji University professor Shin Yool, adding that Kim actually receives more favorable ratings locally than Moon Jae-in.

“But I can’t say with confidence that his challenge will have any real meaning in the current DUP, which is uniformly ‘pro-Roh’ right now,” he added.

Another problem for Kim is the response from South Gyeongsang province residents over his decision not to complete his term as governor. He went back on one promise to those residents already by joining the DUP in February after repeatedly telling them after the June 2 local elections in 2010 that he would remain an independent.

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