Johnny Yune

By Chung Min-uck

Johnny Yune, a Korean-American actor and comedian, joined the election camp of likely lead presidential contender Rep. Park Geun-hye Thursday for the run up to the presidential election slated for Dec. 19.

The 76-year-old was appointed as chief of the overseas Koreans department of Rep. Park’s campaign committee, according to the ruling Saenuri Party.

Yune, who moved to the United States in 1962, got his big break after making an appearance on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” as a stand-up comedian. He returned to Korea in 1989 and introduced the first American-style talk show here, “The Johnny Yune Show”.

As an actor, Yune also played the lead in the 1980s films “They Call Me Bruce” and “They Still Call Me Bruce.”

Observers say Park’s appointment of the celebrity to help her campaign is aimed at winning the hearts and minds of vote holders in the United States through his long-established ties with the Korean-American society.

Out of 2.23 million eligible voters overseas, the U.S. has some 860,000.

This year’s race will mark the first participation in a presidential election of Koreans living abroad. In the April parliamentary election, overseas voting rate stood below 3 percent.

Despite an expected low participation rate, experts believe the overseas votes will be crucial in the leadership ballot which is expected to be a neck-and-neck race.

Bipartisan lawmakers are planning to overhaul the method of overseas voting to increase voter participation by letting them register and cast ballots via mail or through the internet.

Under the current election law, Koreans overseas need to cast their ballots by visiting polling stations established by local diplomatic offices of the government. For many Koreans living abroad, this makes it difficult for them to cast their votes because such diplomatic offices are usually located a long way from their homes.

Park, the daughter of the late general-turned-president Park Chung-hee, is expected to declare her bid for the presidency on Tuesday.

Yune formerly helped launch a supporters’ group for Park at a ceremony held in Los Angeles in 2007, which she attended.

Regarding the appointment a Saenuri Party official in Park’s camp said “we have made the choice as we think he is just the right person for the position. It’s not something like an event.”