Here are the results of yesterday’s by-elections(Chosun-Korean):
Daejeon:
- Sim Dae-pyung (People First Party) 61.2%
- Lee Jai-seon (Grand National Party) 37.1%
Muan-Shinan, South Cholla Province:
- Kim Hong-up (Democratic Party) 48.9%
- Lee Jai-yeon (independent) 34.0%
Hwaseong, Gyeonggi province:
- Koh Hee-sun (GNP) 57.0%
- Park Bong-hyeon (Uri Party) 30.%
Compared with recent by-elections, this one was not a one-party show with the GNP sweeping the field. Perhaps these results came from the new cooperative strategy between the various center and left parties against the GNP. The parties agreed and to back the candidate of the designated party in each district (DP in Jeolla, PFP in Daejeon and Uri in Gyeonggi)
However, I doubt it. Sim was already popular in Daejeon and could have won there even if the other parties had run candidates. Despite Kim Hong-up being thoroughly corrupt, South Jeolla is DP country. That leaves Hwaswong in Gyeeonggi Province, where the GNP candidate smashed Uri’s guy. As I have said somewhere before, this is a good strategy but it is probably too late to save Uri. Even if the Democrats sweep Jeolla in next year’s legislative elections and the PFP holds its own in the Daejeon/Chungcheong area (the latter of which I am not sure about), Uri is just too weak to hold up its end and prevent the GNP from sweeping Sudogwon (Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi). They are just going to have to create a new party…
…unless the GNP manages to screw things up.
The results of six executive races in Sudogwon, South Chungcheong and North Gyeongsang is more indicative of the current political situation. In five out of six races, an independent candidate beat a GNP candidate. In none of the races did a candidate from one of the “alliance parties” (DP, PFP, Uri) finish better than third. This is a sign that the GNP is not as strong as originally thought but that the other parties are just as weak as advertised. Case in point: The one executive race won by the GNP candidate was in South Chungcheong Province. If the the center-left alliance was really a credible threat to the GNP and if the PFP was really a surging force in Chungcheong rather than a few popular politicians banding together, surely they could have at least gotten second place there.
No. The only real threat to the GNP right now is the GNP itself.
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13 Comments
Mr. Jackson–where did the People First Party come from (or I guess the question is, what party did it split off)?
The PFP sprouted up last year as a grouping of independents, mostly based in the Chungcheong area. Their ideology is not really important since they are basically a replacement of the United Liberal Democrats as the Chungcheong regional party.
Man, is that ever so true. Not only has the GNP not re-invented their platform but they are beginning to backslide into the same antics that helped propel the current president into power. If they do not truly make themselves anew, they will end up just like the Uridang — feckless and outdated.
There is a Wiki entry for the PFP but it didn’t say much.
There was apparently some bribery and other monkey business by the GNP prior to the bye-election, same old same I guess.
Well said. Elgin and Jackson.
I wonder if anyone thought about tracking how Independants eventually end up.
They’re only really independent because they couldn’t get the gongchungwon, so their real desire to begin with in the majority of cases is to be part of HanNara or their opposing party.
So, my question is, how long does it take before these Indys suddenly become a party member? 1 year, 2 years, 3?
I never bothered to track any of them, but I doubt they finish their terms as Indys, like they are supposed to, from the viewpoint of the voters.
I mean during every Presidential election, there’s a flux of people changing parties anyway. In Korea’s case, simply to counter Han Nara.
Like someone said in another Korean board, it may come down to a 50-50 contest once again, which the map of South Korea resembling a East West split. Whoever wins Sudogwon, wins.
kwon
Based on the number of votes cast, I think this election is far more important. Korea’s pride is at stake.
Kinda hope he wins. Then everyone will exclaim: “Who?”
He doubles the votes of Colbert, but gets #6, I think because all the votes are regionalized, and thus Time weighs that against him. I think Colbert winning it will be a joke of all jokes.
I voted for the Nintendo guy.
The Nintendo Wii is so kick-ass-cool.
Go ahead and buy the PS3 or the X box. You’re just buying an advanced version of what’s already out there.
The Wii lets you bowl, bat, throw, and the latest gimick I saw was playing guitar. So flat out cool.
More than half of the people on that Time list deserve a “who?”.
What a joke!
As opposed to the Wii, which is almost exactly the same version of what’s out before, but with a funky controller attached. Can’t argue with the price though.
Jon Stewart has 1/20th the vote of Colbert? I always thought he was more popular than his spinoff, guess I was wrong.
‘미워도 다시 한 번’?
The extreme supports for DJ Sunsang-Nim couldn’t be vanished in Jolla mingook. I would like to serve a cup of WTF tea to every single Muan-Shinan people who voted for DJ Junior. It was also sad and disgusted to see 85-years old mother asking “a sympathetic vote” for DJ Junior.
objectively, what’s the basis of support for Okamoto’s daughter, then? Why vote for a Rockerfeller, a Kennedy? Same shit.
DJ’s son’s eyes gives me the creeps.
Okamoto’s daughter wants to claim Choong Chung Do, because her mom is from there. Fine.
I read somewhere that financially and realistically, Choong Chung province got more govt money during Kim Dae Jung and No Moo Hyun.
Park Chung Hee, Jun Doo Hwan, Roh Tae Woo, Kim Yong Sam, they didnt’ do much for Choong Chung Do. Maybe Dae Jeon Expo, you could argue Kim Yong Sam made Dae Jeon into the science hub of Korea, but there’s a reason why Choong Chung Do played the deciding factor for Kim Dae Jung and Noh Moo Hyun, in addition to the false promise of setting up the new capital in Choong Chung, which the Han Nara people shut down.