NoCut News (Korean) has some of the latest poll data, and Park Geun-hye has broke the 30 percent level for the first time (hitting 30.4 percent), drawing nearer to front runner Lee Myung-bak, whose support has dropped to 38.2 percent. Sohn Hak-kyu is in third with 6.2 percent, followed by former prime minister Lee Hae-chan (who, you might be surprised, I kind of like) at 4.7 percent and former unification minister Chung Dong-young at a robust 4.0 percent.
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14 Comments
The conservatives here are a somewhat dubious bunch, but at this point are far preferable to the leftist candidates. Hopefully the left will be completely trounced, humiliated and destroyed in this next election.
Yeah, gotta agree on the snow. It’s all about picking the lesser of two evils this time around…question is, which one is it?
‘gotta agree on that, Snow’…sorry
Hey, Someguy, no prob.
Personally, I really like Lee Myung-bak — yeah, he has skeletons in his closet, but who doesn’t, and he was a very competent mayor who did manage the rather impressive feat of leaving office more popular than when he went in. Granted, a lot of that was PR, and you know what I think about his canal plan, but I’d settle for PR and a white elephant canal project now.
On the other hand, I have little confidence in Park Geun-hye, who I really want to like but hasn’t really showed me anything as a leader. Even Sohn Hak-kyu and Lee Hae-chan, both of whom were competent in their former jobs (even though Lee has a distinct talent for stirring up the shit) may be preferable to Park, IMHO. Particularly the former.
I can’t really say who I would prefer, as I don’t really know much about any of them. All I know is that Roh and his minions were a sorry lot and it will certainly be good riddance once they are turfed out of office. As things heat up towards the election time, I should get off my butt and learn something about the contenders. Thanks for keeping us posted, Robert. You and Andy are at least trying to keep us somewhat abreast of the local political scene.
Because you learned to stop sorrying and love the Cheonggyecheon. No?
It could be that the Claes Oldenburg statue where Taepyeongno crosses over the Cheonggyecheon has some kind of hypnotic effect on Seoulites that causes them to stop worrying and love the Cheonggyecheon.
This strikes me as a rather Roh-like outburst from Lee Myung-bak.
As much as I dislike his “handouts to the construction industry” method of governance, you’re spot-on about Lee and PR, Robert. That’s always given him the edge, though some things aren’t going according to plan; the three new towns are behind schedule and likely none will be finished in time for the election. Some of the more cynical PR management (like moving Cheonggyecheon merchants into Dongdaemun Stadium when plans were already afoot to demolish it, just to shut them up during construction) I’m not so fond of, but hey, it worked, and now it’s Oh Se-hoon’s problem.
I mentioned to a friend the other day that I’d always thought uncovering Cheonggyecheon was just a way for Lee to claim the ‘fast development’ legacy of Park Chung-hee. He replied, “So what you’re saying is that we have someone who wants to be like Park Chung-hee running against Park Chung-hee’s daughter.”
“someone who wants to be like park chung hee running against park chung hee’s daughter”
don’t ever spread that phrase to Lee Myung Bak’s opposition.
It might amass a formidable solid front against him.
Based on a pure lie.
Let’s not forget that Lee Myung Bak stood against Park Chung Hee and served jailtime as a political criminal.
Lee Myung Bak is clean.
“Lee Myung Bak is clean.”
Glad you’re convinced of that wjk because many are not. I understand a lot of his wealth came from Hyundai bonuses - chunks of land - that were perfectly legal at the time. The real name banking system came into effect in the mid 90s. We’ll see…
I met Lee once - walking along the Cheonggyecheon one morning - and he did strike me as a friendly guy. I don’t care for the GNP too much, but after ten years of the other guys, they would get my vote this year.
I don’t care how clean Lee is as long as he doesn’t act like a Juche sniffer. If Roh or the disgusting Nobel laureate Kim were clean, would you still actually be able to respect them?
“Lee Myung Bak is clean.”
I used to think the same thing about Kim Dae Jung, a dissident who escaped death on at least two occasions, may have been the real winner of a presidential election in the 70s and had difficulty walking because of the torture he had endured. Let’s just say I’ve become pretty cynical about politicians. I won’t allow myself to be fooled again by my own sense of romanticism.
PS. 10 years ago I would have gone off on a rant at the mention of Park Ghun Hee’s bid to become president. Now, I see politics as having far more grey areas than black and white ones. Whether you’ll allow yourself to admit it or not, every time you vote you choose who you think is the lesser evil.