The latest Chosun Ilbo poll on potential presidential candidates put Seoul mayor and potential Grand National Party candidate Lee Myung-bak in the lead with 28.5 percent support. He was followed by former prime minister Goh Kun (23.8 percent) and Lee’s GNP rival, GNP chairwoman Park Geun-hye (17.6 percent).
Uri Party chairman Chung Dong-young came in a distant fourth at 7.6 percent, followed by fellow Uri Party challengers Kim Geun-tae (3.5 percent), Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan (3 percent) and former justice minister Kang Kum-sil (2.5 percent).
Mayor Lee’s political fortunes appear to be on the rise. The latest poll, the fourth in a series conducted by the Chosun, was the first in which Lee pulled ahead of Goh. His popularity has steadily climbed, going from 11.5 percent in January 2005 to 15.9 percent in July 2005, 27.5 percent in December 2005 and 28.5 percent in February. Conversely, Goh’s popularity appears to be on the wane since the second half of last year. His numbers were 30 percent (January 2005), 33.8 percent (July 2005), 28 percent (December 2005) and 23.8 percent (February 2006).
Park’s popularity has pretty much kept constant since December, when she polled in at 17.3 percent. Potential Uri Party candidates Chung and Kim, meanwhile, have seen modest improvements in their popularity, going from 5.9 percent to 7.6 percent and 2.8 percent to 3.5 percent, respectively, over the last two months. This would seem to indicate that the Uri Party’s recent party convention did help, albeit a little.
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15 Comments
Yes, he will be the next president. He is a Christian and a right-wing, similar to me. He will lead the nation to the right path.
He is an engineer and a professional to boot.
Me and many Koreans are counting the days that the present pro-North amateur student radical administration would disappear into oblivion of history.
I really hope the right does nothing to muck this lead up.
I believe Goh is still the more experienced. I am have little confidence in Lee, especially considering his record and sensibilities.
“우리둥” is mostly going to be flushed thus I will wave bye-bye.
Thank God.
I worked as an intern at a local think tank a year or so ago, and the boss there said Lee Myung-bak has two major flaws:
1) He is just too rich, which is, my boss said, a major turnoff for many Koreans.
2) He is too ugly.
I was a little suprised at the second, because although Lee is no oil painting, there are surely worse-looking ajossis.
Personally, being a Godless European, I am a little alarmed by some of Lee’s more strident religious utterings. Plus, he is a member of the “승복음” sect, to which some have attributed shady, cult-like behaviour.
I was a little suprised at the second, because although Lee is no oil painting, there are surely worse-looking ajossis.
No oil painting, but greasy nonetheless.
The problem is that Chung Dongyoung is charming by comparison. And if the old people stay home because they’re finished with their role, all the teenie boppers who just got their adult ID cards will be dying to vote for Mr. Photogenic.
Personally, being a Godless European, I am a little alarmed by some of Lee’s more strident religious utterings.
But he should get along with Bush swimmingly.
Plus, he is a member of the “승복음” sect, to which some have attributed shady, cult-like behaviour.
But is the 순복음 any more of a cult than the one Chung belongs to? I mean the Juche one.
I believe Goh is still the more experienced.
Wasn’t he president for a while?
Yes, Goh was an interim president and the best there has ever been. He was so good that my hair loss actually reversed itself, until No Moo Han came back.
My wife said that if Goh doesn’t run, she won’t bother voting, and I told her that if Chung wins, we’re moving to another country.
I’m going to be in grad school Stateside during the election next year, and if Chung wins, I will seriously consider not coming back.
That would indeed be the nightmare — but seems quite unlikely — the South Korean citizenry seems ready to swing the pendulum back a bit — or maybe a lot.
Simply having a *competent* person in the Blue House would be quite refreshing all in itself. Goh would probably do fine; he’s a grown-up who knows what he’s doing. Lee has certainly proved himself an effective leader, in the Korean context… But having a religious fanatic of any stripe as President would do Korea no more good than it has done America
Bush has done a great job.
If he did not go to Iraq, then the US would have had the second, the third and more attacks like the 9/11. I am sure of it.
Baduk, the record does not show the current administration in America as having done a good job, rather, it has committed many mistakes through incompetence. I am not impressed by what I’ve seen and there *is* a problem with due process in America, thanks to the general state of panic that was induced by 9/11, not to mention the steady, on-going degradation of public health and safety at the hands of what passes for regulation in Washington.
Rather, you have “done a good job” trolling . . .
R. Elgin,
I am a democrat and I know Chaney and co. are getting away with murder. The “leakgate” and ensuing cover-up and the recent story about Bush knowing about NewOrleans debacle bother me as well.
However, he is correct on Iraq. Don’t blame him for that. If Clinton were standing watch, he would have done the same thing. As I wrote, without Iraq campaign, there had been more attacks, even more severe ones.
What I hate about Iraq situation are Dick Chaney making money out of the emergency situation and Bush condoning Dick’s actions (all bad guys are named Dick?).
Lee got spanked by the Chosun today:
http://english.chosun.com/w21d.....60025.html
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[...] Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak, who’s currently visiting the United States, was invited to share breakfast with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who is reportedly notorious for turning down audience requests by high-ranking figures like the Korean foreign minister. Naturally enough, some Koreans are wondering why Rummy would not only grant an audience to Lee, who stands a good chance of becoming Korea’s next president, but actually extend an invitation before the mayor even asked for one. The meeting is all the more surprising in that with the Yongsan negotiations completed, there would seem to be few outstanding issues between Seoul City and the U.S. military. Despite this, Seoul said Rummy sent a breakfast invitation to Lee just prior to his departure to the United States. The invitation was made to one of Lee’s advisers through Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Lawless, one of Rummy’s close aides. Analysts say the invitation was made with Lee’s status as a likely presidential contender in mind. Rummy has turned down audience requests by Korean foreign ministers, but he did meet with then-Unification Minister Chung Dong-young during a Washington visit. Chung, like Lee, is considered a possible presidential candidate. Meeting with Korean reporters in Washington, Lee said he couldn’t predict what he’d discuss with Rummy. Rather, he said, he was going to be doing a lot of listening. Lee was careful not to compute too much political significance on the meeting, saying it was simply a courtesy extended him as Seoul mayor. The mayor would meet with U.S. trade representatives Robert B. Zoellick and Rob Portman to discuss the visa waiver and FTA issues, but he canceled meeting with politicians like Senator Richard Lugar, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, in order avoid making the trip appear like his international debut as a presidential candidate. [...]
[...] In some places you might get the idea that Lee Myung-bak is on his way towards being the next president in South Korea. But like anyone, he is not without opposition: 한국의 슈퍼맨도 미국에 가면 아부맨이 되나 봅니다. 미국을 방문 중인 이명박 시장이 거기서 연일 친미 발언을 쏟아내고 있습니다. 서울시 대변인에 따르면 “이 시장의 이번 미국 방문이 워싱턴 정가에 자신의 존재를 알리는 데에 주목적이 있다”고 하네요. [...]