Lesbian candidate Choi Hyun-sook

By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

In tomorrow's elections, voters will be asked to determine the fates of three minority candidates, whose presence in elections is unprecedented.

The three are a North Korean refugee, a Philippine-born woman and a sexual minority candidate.

The first two are running for the elections as candidates on the proportional representation system of minor parties, while the other declared her bid for a parliamentary job in the heartland district in Seoul.

Prof. Lim Seong-ho of the Department of Political Science at Kyung Hee University in Seoul told the Korea Times that the bid of the three candidates signifies more than just three minority candidates running for the National Assembly elections.

``Specialists have begun replacing generalists in the parliament with the emergence of candidates representing the specific, best interests of minority voters,'' he said.

Lim said the legacy of April 9 elections would be a gradual shift in terms of the background of the candidates.

``Candidates, whose career background is in the political arena, are being replaced by voices representing the best interests of vocational groups,'' the professor said.

Choi Hyun-sook, who is running in the Jongno district, Seoul, is the first lesbian candidate to have made a bid for parliament.

Asked about the reactions from voters regarding her campaign, Choi, 52, said in a phone interview with The Korea Times that the voters did not treat her differently because of her sexual identity.

``In fact, I feel that they came to take more interest in me because of my personal traits,'' she said.

The candidate of a minor party, however, confessed that she needed extra courage to join the race mainly because of her sexual identity.

``Before joining the race, I thought I may become a victim of terrorism in the middle of the campaign,'' she said.

Asked what prompted her to run in the constituency which was widely considered as a springboard to the presidency if one wins the race, Choi answered the perception of Jongno was not accurate.

Choi said the urban place has poor welfare facilities, compared with other districts, but few major candidates have addressed the problem properly.

A Hankook Ilbo newspaper poll taken on April 1-2 said that 0.3 percent of respondents said they would vote for Choi on election day.

Frontrunner Park Jin of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) garnered 44.1 percent, and Sohn Hak-kyu of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) trailed Rep. Park with 30.7 percent.

Three former presidents, including incumbent President Lee Myung-bak, got the top job after winning Jongno in the general elections.

Prof. Lim said the parliamentary representation of handicapped people and unionists is well in place in the legislative body and other minority groups kicked off their efforts to make their voices heard.

``The trend indicates that this society has become more tolerable to these minority voices,'' Lim said.

hkang@koreatimes.co.kr