Pro-Government Camp Crowded With Hopefuls
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
The pro-government camp's race in selecting a candidate to run in the Dec. 19 presidential election is crowded with hopefuls.
About 20 presidential contenders will likely vie to win the camp's ticket, despite their low level of popular support.
Major competitors include former prime ministers, Lee Hae-chan and Han Myeong-sook; former Gyeonggi Governor Sohn Hak-kyu; and former Uri Party Chairman Chung Dong-young. But their support rates are hovering from around just one percent to five percent in polls.
Up to a dozen more, including former Justice Minister Chun Jung-bae and former Minister of Health and Welfare Rhyu Si-min, are expected to announce their bid soon, party sources said.
Usually, the camp includes the pro-government Uri Party, the tentatively named Centrist United Democratic Party, Uri deserters and maverick lawmakers with a liberal inclination.
The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) has five presidential aspirants. Of them, former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak and former GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye are leading in local surveys with support of about 30 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
Professor Andy Jackson, who teaches American government in the Lakeland College bridge program at Ansan College in Gyeonggi Province, said the main reason many unknown candidates are running is ``pure vanity.''
``Most of them have been highly successful in prior elections, which naturally gives them confidence that they can succeed in future elections,'' the professor told The Korea Times.
He went on to say, ``Learning lessons from former President Kim Dae-jung, some candidates may be running now to position themselves for a stronger run in the next presidential election in 2012.''
Kim lost the election twice before finally winning in 1997.
``They may also be running to try to raise their profile in order to secure a job in the next administration,'' he said.
The ``Roh Moo-hyun delusion'' might explain why lawmakers hop on the presidency, the professor added.
Roh was a presidential candidate with low support while his rival Lee Hoi-chang, former GNP chairman, enjoyed large popularity in the 2002 presidential campaign.
Just a couple of months before the voting started, Roh's approval rating soared following his depiction as a reform-minded politician on the Internet.
Jackson, said, however, that Korea is not the only one to undergo the phenomenon of unknowns running for presidency.
``In the U.S., we have people like Senator Joe Bidden, Governor Mike Huckabee and Governor Bill Richardson running,'' he said. ``President Jimmy Carter was relatively unknown before his successful presidential campaign in 1976.''
As of Thursday, a total of 66 people are registered with the National Election Commission (NEC) to run in their respective parties' primaries, the NEC said. Of them, 12 belong to the Uri Party and the Centrist United Democratic Party.