By ANDY JACKSON
Marmot?????s Hole Guest Blogger
Just a quick update on the situation with the October 26 elections.
There will be four Kuk Hoe seats up for grabs in by-elections. They are in Daegu; Ulsan; Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province and Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province.
Here are the candidates :
Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province (formerly held by Our Open Party or Uri, OOP)
-former Representative Lee Sang-soo (OOP)
-Lim Hae-gyu, (Grand National Party, GNP)
-Cho Yong-ik (Democratic Party, DP))
-Lee Geun-seon (Democratic Labor Party, DLP)
Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province (GNP)
-Lee Jong-sang (OOP)
-Lee Sang-yoon (DP)
-Jeong Jin-seop (GNP)
Daegu (GNP)
-Lee Gang-cheol (OOP, 4-time loser for the Kuk Hoe job in a GNP stronghold)
-Choi Geun-don (DLP)
The GNP has to sort through 15 applicants before we will know who will have the right to smack Lee again in this safe GNP district.
Ulsan (DLP)
-Lee Soo-dong or Park Jae-taek (subject to change, OOP)
-Yoon Do-hwan, Kang Seok-gu or Shim Jang-soo (GNP)
-Chung Gap-deuk or Chung Chang-yoon (DLP)
The elections to watch are the two in Gyeonggi.
The DongA has handicapped the races. Here is a brief summery of what the DongA thinks with a few views of my own:
-Gwangju, Gyeonggi: The GNP is having nomination problems but I think they will pull things together in time to hold the seat, especially with the DP candidate there to take a few votes from the OOP guy.
-Bucheon, Gyeonggi: A probable pick-up for the GNP. The OOP nominee was convicted of illegal fundraising and was pardoned as part of a mass amnesty on Liberation Day this summer.
-Daegu: The GNP in a walk. You can bet your daughter on this one.
-Ulsan: The DongA calls it a toss-up. The DLP could keep it if the OOP decides not to contest the race. Heck, let’s call it for the DLP.
So my prediction is three wins for the GNP and one for the DLP. That would be a net gain of one seat for the GNP and one loss for the OOP.
4 Comments
Interesting stuff. I think that the GNP has a mini-wave on the go right now and if the gods are kind, it’ll grow and keep flowing for the next 2 years.
nice bit of info, andy. thanks.
The Yangban’s post is informative, as usual, and could be considered interesting if one is into Korean politics. Unfortunately, I am not into Korean politics, which means my visit here today was pretty much a wasted click.
I have just noticed, however, that the Marmot’s Website counter has gone over a million. I have also noticed that his site has had over 22,000 visits this week. That makes the Marmot’s Hole a very impressive forum. It is too bad that such a forum is being neglected and not fully utilized. When I imagine all the possibilities for this forum and all the news that could be disseminated, but isn’t, I get a little sad.
I understand that people get burned out and need a break, but I also believe that the show must go on, especially when so many people are showing up to see it, 22,000 visits a week. How long will that high visit count last, considering the direction this blog is going?
I would like to suggest that the Marmot and the others associated with this blog get together to consider ways to make the Marmot’s Hole more comprehensive, more in-depth, and more timely. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could come here and get easy access to daily news and analysis on Korea–analysis and comment by a diverse group of people?
Yes, I know it is just a blog, but it is a special blog with some history. Don’t let it die.
Perhaps more “guest writers”? Or, if you are looking for a fix, check out some of the blog of those others who do post here.