By Park Soo-young
Contributing Writer
He's coming back and he's dead serious.
Lee Hoi-Chang, the two time presidential candidate has relocated nine of his ancestors' graves, in the hopes of winning his third run in the presidential election.
This move is not surprising to Koreans as ``Poongsoo'' or more popularly known as FengShui is an ancient Korean and Chinese doctrine. For thousands of years, Koreans have believed that where you place your ancestors' graves may have something to do with the welfare of the descendants.
Good poongsoo is carefully calculated by the shape of the land, direction of wind and water by specialized practitioners, who study the theory of ground configuration or divination of topography.
In the past, royal families consulted with poongsoo practitioners, known as a geomancer, to choose the best places to bury their family in order to ``guarantee'' a positive outcome for the descendants. Although practiced less now, it is still a well-known concept for Koreans and it is still very important to influential leaders in Korea.
Under this belief, Lee's decision to renovate and relocate his ancestors' graves is more political than superstitious, as he announces his run for president for the third time.
The former prime minister ran for president in 1997 and 2002. The current President Roh Moo-Hyun narrowly won the election in 2002 with 48.9 percent support, with Lee Hoi-Chang at 46.6 percent.
With 41 days left until the controversial presidential election date, Lee's move to join the race is shaking up the election scene. Opinion polls have shown that if the former justice runs, he will instantly gain at least 20 percent support. Poll results also indicated that the opposition leader Lee Myung-back of the conservative Grand National Party, who has held a strong position until now, will most likely see a huge decline in support.
Lee Hoi-Chang has reportedly decided to move the graves after his family speculated that the reason he didn't win the last two elections was because of where his ancestors were buried.
Scientists dismiss the notion of poongsoo, but it is taken very seriously and still plays a crucial part in Korea's political landscape.
Former President Kim Dae-Jung had also relocated his ancestors' graves in the past after listening to the advice of poongsoo practitioners, two years before he was elected.
In the upcoming election, however, there may be more tension in the poongsoo world, as Lee Hoi-Chang isn't the only candidate who has moved his ancestors' graves in hopes of becoming the next President.
It is clear at this point that this year's presidential election will not only be a race between candidates, but also between poongsoo practitioners, as Lee Myung-bak's ancestors too, are known to be buried in ``good'' areas, according to Poongsoo.net.
The would-be third-runner up Chung Dong-Young, when Lee Hoi-Chang runs, also dug up the graves of his ancestors in 2005 for the same reason.