Seven Candidates Score Dramatic, Sweet Victories

By Kim Rahn and Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporters

There are always winners and losers in elections and for some people the wins and upsets produced stark emotions.

Some of those who managed to win the hearts and minds of voters were rookies in politics, while others were veterans with a record number of parliamentary victories under their belts. Here are seven of those whose election wins Wednesday proved quite dramatic.

Now a third-time-lawmaker Park Jin of Grand National Party (GNP), 51, is one of the authorities on diplomatic affairs at the National Assembly. Being a member of the Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee, he is one of the very few links between diplomatic think-tanks in Washington and Seoul, and is considered one of the party’s next generation leaders.

This election was never easy for Park, as he had to face his former GNP compatriot and incumbent main opposition United Democratic Party Co-Chairman Sohn Hak-kyu. To date, Jongno has been sought after by many politicians as it is considered the birthplace of Korean politics. Sohn vowed to take Jongno and revive the liberal atmosphere in politics.

Park did admit that his opponent was quite a strong one and that he genuinely had to do his ``all.’’ But soon after his victory was confirmed, the confident man said he would have beaten ``anyone.’’

Rhee In-je, a four-term lawmaker, has become a fifth-term one despite running in the election as an independent after failing to win selection on the main opposition party’s ticket.

He relished victory in the Nonsan-Gyeryong-Gumsan district in South Chungcheong Province, beating Yang Seung-sook of the United Democratic Party (UDP) and Kim Yong-kap of the GNP.

Rhee, 60, a former UDP lawmaker, left the party when he was not selected due to his frequent defections to other parties. Since 1997, he has deserted his parties five times, whenever he failed to win a ticket in the race.

He ran for the presidency three times in 1997, 2002, and 2007. In the 2007 presidential election, he became the candidate for the Democratic Party, which was later merged into the UDP, but obtained only 0.7 percent of the votes.

In Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, former President Kim Dae-jung’s long-time aide Park Jie-won was successful. He ran as an independent in the region, renowned as Kim’s political stronghold.

The former culture and tourism minister and presidential secretary during the Kim administration failed to win a place on the UDP ticket, after its candidacy screening committee decided not to select those who had been given prison terms for corruption and other criminal charges.

Park, 66, was sentenced to three years in jail in 2006 for orchestrating Hyundai’s illegally money transfer to North Korea ahead of the inter-Korean summit in 2000, but was pardoned last January.

His victory over the UDP candidate showed the former president still has strong influence in Mokpo.

Kim Moo-sung, 56, an independent candidate in Nam-gu, Busan, was elected as its new representative, defeating contenders by a wide margin. This win makes him a four-term lawmaker. Kim, a strong supporter of former Grand National Party (GNP) Chairwoman Park Geun-hye, left the party last month after failing to be selected to run in the election.

``My winning can be translated as the people’s punishment against the GNP, which ran its candidate selection campaign in a deceptive manner,’’ Kim told reporters after his win was confirmed. ``If possible, I would like to return to the GNP to help reconcile President Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye.’’

He said he would cooperate with the President in earnest to revitalize the sagging economy, but has taken a firm stand against the government’s proposed cross-country canal project.

Kang Ki-kab, 54, running in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, on the ticket of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP), has become a two-term lawmaker, defeating major contender Lee Bang-ho of the GNP. Kang’s win is significant as his left-leaning party was defeated in most other constituencies. Kang defeated a political big-name from a conservative party in the stronghold of conservatism.

Initially, people were skeptical of Kang’s chances as Sacheon has been known as a home to conservatism and Lee had strong support from the GNP.

``It’s amazing news,’’ Kang told reporters after his election victory. ``It’s meaningful in that a former farmer defeated a close aide to President Lee Myung-bak.’’

Choo Mi-ae, 49, of the UDP succeeded in making a dramatic comeback. The lawyer-turned-politician won the 15th and 16th general elections but failed to win her third term in the 17th general election. The former lawmaker joined the 18th general election as a candidate for the Gwangjin-gu district of Seoul and beat her rival Park Myung-hwan from the GNP.

Lawyer Go Seong-duk, 50, scored an easy victory over his rivals for the GNP in Seocho, southern Seoul. With Seocho being a party stronghold, Go’s victory had been pretty much expected. Go, also a professor at Ewha Womans University, fervently supported President Lee Myung-bak during an independent counsel’s investigation into allegations that the President took part in financial scams before running for the post. Go is a well-known TV commentator and a popular stock analyst.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr