Lee Hoi-chang Syndrome Made by Nominees
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
Lee Hoi-chang, former chairman of the Grand National Party (GNP), finally declared his bid to run for the presidency on Wednesday. Will he catch up with the most popular presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak of the GNP or just see his support dwindle?
The answer will largely depend on his support after his official declaration to run, as his unusually high popularity was largely according to the poor performance of his competitors rather than his own glow, according to scholars.
The former Supreme Court justice has enjoyed a some 20 percent support rate, lower than Lee Myung-bak's 40 percent but higher than the 15-20 percent of Chung Dong-young, presidential candidate of the United New Democratic Party (UNDP).
It is bizarre to see such a high level of popularity for any person who didn't announce his or her bid for the presidency.
Experts said many conservative voters weren't 100 percent happy with the former Seoul mayor who represents the conservative side, while Chung, who represents the center-left side, failed to absorb all liberal voters.
Kang Won-tae, politics professor at Soongsil University in Seoul, said the so-called Lee Hoi-chang syndrome shows that there exist many voters who are not content with Lee Myung-bak's brand of conservatism.
``This is the main reason why the Lee Hoi-chang syndrome arose,'' Kang said. ``It is important to note that this is not because of Lee Hoi-chang himself but rather because of Lee Myung-bak.''
So should Lee Myung-bak come under fire due over major blunders or challenges such as the financial fraud scandal dubbed BBK, the former GNP leader will benefit, according to Kang.
``The variable is not Lee Hoi-chang but Lee Myung-bak (in the Lee Hoi-chang syndrome),'' Kang added.
Kim Hyung-joon, politics professor of Myongji University in Seoul, said the syndrome is also attributable to liberal forces who like to attack Lee Myung-bak who enjoys the No. 1 approval rate.
``When we closely look at the current surveys on approval rates of presidential candidates, we can see about one fourth of the pro-government voters support Lee Hoi-chang rather than Chung Dong-young,'' Kim said. ``It is because people want to make strategic choices in order to upset the current presidential race structure.
For example, out of the progressive forces, 38.6 percent support Lee Myung-bak while 16.5 percent support Lee Hoi-chang, which is 0.2 percentage points higher than Chung's supporters, according to a survey by Korea Research Center.
Kim said it will take about 10 days to see whether Lee Hoi-chang's popularity goes up or not as he will have to undergo screening sessions on his policy.
Meanwhile, scholars expected Lee Hoi-chang to face difficulties in the race due to his being an independent candidate, which will likely prevent his popularity from soaring.
``It is very, very difficult for any independent candidate to run for the presidency in Korea because presidential campaigns need large numbers of staff to help the candidate in the name of a party,'' Kim added.