D-240

Pre-Candidacy Registration Opens Long Struggle for Top Job

The 17th presidential election started its official campaign with the registration of preliminary candidates Monday, 240 days before the vote. No major contenders have thrown in their gauntlets yet for the pre-candidacy registration newly introduced to provide opportunities of self-promotion for minor players and independent candidates. Still, it was symbolic enough to signal the formal start of the long struggle to grab the highest executive post. Actually, however, the battle began much longer ago.

All eyes are now on who will be nominated as the standard bearer of the majority Grand National Party in August _ Lee Myung-bak or Park Geun-hye. With the minority governing party, Uri, yet to field its own runner big enough to face the two, there is an atmosphere that winning the GNP candidacy will all but assure the presidency. Will the conservative party retrieve power after a decade of staying in the opposition camp, then? Probably yes for now, but there are too many variables to say for sure.

The latest survey by the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, provides a glimpse into what voters want in the next president _ a strong leader who can jumpstart the economy and create jobs. Nothing surprising about that in today’s Korea, where too many people, old or young, are being crowded out of the tight labor market. That voters want a strong leader is a bit unexpected, as this country only ended military dictatorships about 14 years ago. Suffice to say, it appears people have grown tired of a fickle, verbose president.

The two GNP frontrunners are also riding on this popular sentiment. Lee, a former CEO of the nation’s largest construction company and a popular Seoul mayor, seems to fit these requirements best. Runner-up Park, the eldest daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee, capitalizes on her father’s legacy as the chief executive of Korea Inc. in the 1960s and ‘70s. But their economic pledges are equally wild and outdated. Lee is calling for the Seoul-Pusan ``grand canal,’’ while Park is proposing the Korea-China ``train ferry.’’

Both are also vowing to attain annual economic growth of 7 percent throughout their tenure without explaining how. Besides these, the two would-be presidents have not expressed clear views on major national issues, ranging from the Korea-U.S. FTA to the North Korean nuclear crisis and to such domestic issues as pension and education reforms except for remarks on principles. They have been talking about a rosy future, not current day-to-day living. These are politics of personalities, not policies.

Voters in Asia’s third largest economy want more than that. They need _ and deserve _ to know what key contenders think about major national agenda in detail. In short, people want ``retail politics’’ on how, not what. A candidate who will be able to solve these concerns and curiosities most satisfactorily will be laughing all the way to the bank in eight months.