An Hee-jung's pledge to embrace conservatives backfires

By Jun Ji-hye

South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung got off to a rough start in the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) primaries, garnering considerably fewer votes than expected in the first round of the elections Monday.

In the first race of a four-round battle, held in Gwangju, home turf of Korea’s liberal forces, An won only 20 percent of the votes compared to Moon Jae-in’s 60.2 percent.

The results were apparently poorer than An and his aides expected, given that he has been following Moon mostly within a gap of only about 10 percentage points in various opinion polls of the potential presidential candidates.

Experts said An’s previous remarks that have stirred controversies among liberals would have affected the hearts and minds of voters in Gwangju.

The governor invited criticism when he said if elected president, he would form a grand coalition government, even with allies of former President Park Geun-hye who was removed from office earlier this month over a massive corruption scandal. An’s remarks were in stark contrast to those made by other liberal candidates who vowed to clean up the deep-rooted evils of the Park administration.

An also faced criticism when speaking about the scandal-ridden Mir and K-Sports foundations set up during the Park administration and the much-disputed Four Major Rivers Restoration Project undertaken by former President Lee Myung-bak. An said the two former conservative presidents had “good will” when they started the projects.

Controversy was caused because Park has been under investigation for allegedly coercing conglomerates into "donating" money to the two foundations, set up by her confidant Choi Soon-il. The independent counsel team believes the donations were bribes.

“It was difficult for An’s remarks to appeal to voters in Gwangju,” Chonnam National University political science professor Oh Seung-yong said during a radio boardcast.

The professor also noted that An’s poorer-than-expected performance in the primaries was expected to some extent, given that such elections are a combination of the will of the liberal party’s core supporters, while opinion polls, in which he has been comparatively more successful, target the entire nation that also includes conservative voters.

Voters in Gwangju have exerted immense impact on the liberal party’s primaries as those who secure victory there have ultimately become presidential candidates in most cases. Roh Moo-hyun in 2002, Chung Dong-young in 2007 and Moon in 2012 were all victorious in the area, advancing to the presidential election.

Looking at this trend, there now seems to be less chance for An to beat Moon in the primaries, experts added.

But An said he will keep trying to win the primaries, saying “It was just the first election.”

He told reporters right after the primary that he will recover support in the second round scheduled for Wednesday in the Chungcheong region.