The Marmot’s Hole

(This is a topic I wish I would have posted on two weeks ago.  It would have made me look smart.)

For a while now, the front runners for the Grand National Party’s presidential nomination have been fighting over procedures. 

Front runner Lee Myung-bak, who leads most polls by a wide margin, wanted to expand the pool of participants to include more non-party members in the hope of overcoming his relatively weak support among party leaders and activists.  Park Geun-hye, who has stronger inter-party support, wanted to move the GNP’s convention date back in order to have more time to eat away at Lee’s lead in the polls.

So (shockingly) party leaders did the logical thing, compromised, and gave both leading candidates part of what they asked for (Korea Times):

The opposition Grand National Party (GNP) is expected to pick its presidential candidate at a national convention in August.

The tentative agreement was made through the mediation of Chairman Kang Jae-sup between the two main rival candidates _ former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak and former party Chairwomen Park Keun-hye.

The largest opposition party will hold the national convention with voting participation of 200,000 non-party members once the party leadership endorses the plan.

Lee said, “He is willing to accept the proposal although he wanted the convention to be held either in June or July.”

Park also said she will accept the mediation as long as party members endorse the proposal.

Current party rules had 40,000 non-party members participating in a June nomination process. 

In the meantime, also-ran Sohn Hak-kyu also ran into hiding (KT again):

Meanwhile, the former Kyonggi governor has cloistered himself at a temple on the east coast in an apparent protest against his party’s move not to accept his demand for delaying the primary for the Dec. 19 presidential poll.

When asked by a reporter, Sohn didn’t even say if he would agree to meet with GNP chairman Kang Jae-sup to talk about the situation.

Sohn wants the primary to be delayed until after September 25 and for the number of number of non-party participants to be increased to 400,000.  He got a little better than half of what he wanted on the date and a little less than half of what he wanted on the numbers.  I think most folks would think that a single-digit-in-the-polls third tier candidate getting half of what he wanted would be a pretty good deal.

But Sohn seems to be holding out for something.

That something is increasingly looking like a new party.  Perhaps he will accept the nomination from one of the Uri splinter parties.  However, he might take the well-traveled path of embittered Korean politicians and run under the banner of his own personal party (Chosun):

An official with the [Progress Korea Party] said it will establish a nationwide organization by September and select a presidential candidate as a formal political party. He expressed hope that Sohn will decide to leave the GNP. Sohn attended the ceremony despite opposition from his aides and wrote his own speech for it.

At the ceremony, Sohn reiterated the need for a new political force. “We long for the emergence of a new political order. It is not just necessary but inevitable, and we should prepare for its arrival,” he said.

Sohn had some choice words at the party’s opening ceremony:

“Incompetent progressives are unable to carry on the responsibility of running Korean society. Nor can the conservatives be responsible for mapping out new Korean history. Both of them read the direction of history wrong,” he said.

That sounds a bit like our old friend Goh Kun talking.  I wonder what ever happened to him?  Sohn needs to either patch up relations with his party or leave and throw his lot in with the progressives.  As they say, the only things you will find in the middle of the road are dead possums.

(BTW, I must completement Sohn on his choice of hiding places.  Naksan is a very nice temple located on the East Sea.  Alas, much of it was recently destroyed by a forest fire.)