By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
What do the World Cup, the Olympics and the parliamentary elections have in common? They take place every four years and always create new stars.
The April 9th parliamentary elections were no exception. They served as a springboard for an obscure hip-hop singer-turned-candidate ㅡ Kim Won-jong, 28, more widely known by his stage name ``Insane Deegie'' ㅡ to leap to stardom.
Kim, who independently ran in Gangnam-gu, won a total of 1,782 votes. He ranked fourth out of seven candidates running in the constituency and the number of votes he received is the third highest among independent candidates in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.
``Three campaigners and eight million won were all I had but I achieved more votes than those who campaigned under their party's support,'' Kim said in an interview with The Korea Times. ``Although I failed to win a parliamentary seat, it's meaningful that I broke the deep-rooted norm in Korean politics of seeing money as a surefire ticket for winning elections.''
When the hip-hop singer declared that he would run, many saw his attempt as a publicity stunt to sell more albums.
``Frankly, it's true that I used the elections to promote my album and myself but if it had been just for fun, I would not have jumped into the race at the cost of putting my career as a hip-hop musician on hold for two months,'' he said. ``It was one of my long-cherished dreams. I had prepared for it since 2002 when I was a serviceman.''
``Voter turnout plunged to a record low of 46 percent and only 19 percent of voters in their 20s participated in the election. I learnt that political apathy in Korea is increasing,'' Kim said. ``Politicians create the problem. Most of those I met struggled to make ends meet, while some recklessly issued irrelevant pledges. This discrepancy largely contributed to the nosedive in voter turnout.''
Despite his good performance, he failed to get back the 15 million won entrusted for his candidacy since he failed to gain 15 percent support from participating voters in his constituency. But he said he earned something more precious than 15 million won.
``I won public confidence,'' the musician said. ``The 1,782 votes I received prove their trust in me.''
He will soon resume his musical career. ``I want to become a musician that shares messages that will lead our society on a better path.''
As for another try in the 2012 elections, Kim said ``As of now, I'm not sure. But I will definitely return to the public eye with bigger surprises than this.''