By Kang Hyun-kyung
Five years ago, Korea was not ready for a woman president.
Campaign watchers said Park Geun-hye of the Grand National Party (GNP) was defeated in the party’s primary ahead of the 2007 presidential election due mainly to the gender factor.
At that time, Park, now the interim GNP leader, lost the contest to current President Lee Myung-bak by a razor-thin margin.
Over the past few years, there has been a shift in the public perception of women in politics as women took over the party leadership in major parties.
Han Myeong-sook, former prime minister under the President Roh Moo-hyun government, won the competition to select a new leader of the Democratic United Party (DUP) Sunday, defeating male candidates by a sizable margin.
Han, 68, topped both mobile and delegation voting.
With her joining the leadership, female politicians now control both the ruling GNP and the main opposition DUP, ahead of the crucial National Assembly elections slated for April.
The late President Roh’s personal opinion of Han as a leader drew media attention after she was elected to lead the DUP.
In an interview with wire media while in office, Roh spoke frankly about his endorsement of Han.
The late President was quoted as saying if he was in a position to pick a presidential candidate, he would go for Han saying she had the “right stuff.”
A political scientist said Monday that women taking over the leadership of major parties proves their rising status in politics.
Hong Yong-pyo, a professor of political science at Hanyang University in Seoul, said women have become a crucial asset in politics.
“I believe women play by the rules better than men. Men are vulnerable to the negative impacts of family ties or other non-institutional factors, whereas women are principled,” Hong said. “This trait is probably one of the key reasons behind the women’s sweeping of the leadership in both ruling and opposition parties.”
The political scientist said citizens and party delegates chose women to lead their party in the hopes that these strengths of women could help save political parties in crisis.
Analysts say the political landscape has become more favorable to women as time has passed. In the 2008 elections, 41 women were elected lawmakers out of the 299-member National Assembly.
Women account for 13.7 percent of the entire National Assembly members.
Both Park and Han have proved themselves to be politicians of inner strength.
Han is a strong woman having gone through an eventful political career.
She was forced to live separately from her husband for 13 years and six months as her husband Park Seong-jun was put behind bars for having been involved in a spy scandal in 1967.
During the 13 years of “distance relationship,” Han and Park, now a professor at Sungkonghoe University, exchanged numerous letters to make the marriage work.
Han served as gender equality minister under the former Kim Dae-jung government, and then was called upon to assume the position of prime minister under the Roh government.
In 2004, she joined the political arena as a lawmaker after winning the parliamentary election in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. Her rival was political heavyweight Hong Sa-deuk.
In 2010, Han drew the media spotlight again as she lost the Seoul mayoral race over Oh Se-hoon, who was then seeking a second-term.
Meanwhile, Park Geun-hye, 60, was behind the GNP’s survival of the tough political environment back in 2004 when the GNP-led campaign to impeach then President Roh was foiled.
A severe backlash from the public had prompted campaign watchers to predict back then that it was a matter of time for the GNP to turn out to be a minor party with less than 100 parliamentary seats in the April elections.
Under Park’s leadership, the GNP managed to gain 120 something seats in the elections, making it the largest party again.
During her leadership, the GNP had a lucky break in the by-elections as it won all elections. This enabled Park to earn the nick name “Election Queen.”
The results of the upcoming April elections will put the two tough ladies’ leadership to the test.