Three weeks before the presidential election, candidates began to run TV commercials seeking to put a human face on their tense campaigns.

The first in a series of advertisements for Saenuri Party candidate Park Geun-hye and Democratic United Party nominee Moon Jae-in hit local airwaves Monday when the 22-day official campaign began.

Park stresses her preparedness as the nation’s first female leader, while Moon Jae-in highlights his common man touch.

“Early presidential campaign commercials tended to stress the leadership of the presidential contender,” said Kim Chun-shik, a professor in journalism and mass communications at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, who has authored a book examining past newspaper ads and television commercials of Korean presidential candidates.

“But as democratization got under way, advertising tended to emphasize more the abilities and ethics of the candidate.”

Yoo Eun-hye, who manages publicity for Moon’s campaign, said the commercial stresses the usual easygoing manner of candidate Moon while previous campaigns tried to shift a candidate’s image.

The television commercial of the former presidential chief of staff to late President Roh Moo-hyun begins with the camera traveling inside a tunnel. In the background is actress Moon So-ri singing a capella, “If I were the sky / I would like to be colored in your face.”

The reference to the sky appears to be aimed at evoking memories of Roh, who committed suicide in 2009.

The screen then switches over to footage filmed in Moon’s house, which looks as though it’s the home of any middle-class family. His wife brings him a cup of tea. Several oval framed pictures of Moon’s family stand on top of a drawer. 

Moon sits on a cushioned chair, with his legs crossed, and without socks. He is attentively reading a text and the next moment, seen dozing off, the way many men one year shy from their 60th birthday would on a Sunday morning.

The footage is eclipsed with a voiceover of segments from Moon’s speech: “Esteemed citizens, are you happy? Do you feel that the country exists on your behalf? Do you think that the government worries with you about your problems?”

The screen then switches over to Moon getting ready for a campaign appearance, putting on make-up and a sharp suit. The narration and subtitles state that if you can not remember all the speeches, do remember three things. Then, with the soothing singing voice of the actress playing in the background, the three points are revealed in the recorded footage of a speech Moon gave to his supporters in front of a huge Korean flag.

“The opportunities will be equal. The process will be fair. The result will be just,” he says. The commercial closes with a close-up of Moon’s smiling face, and his candidacy number, 2.

“(This commercial) is the first time that the actual house of a presidential candidate has been revealed (to the public),” Yoo told reporters. “By emphasizing that candidate Moon as an ordinary man and a seomin candidate,” she said, using the Korean word meaning the common folk, “(we will show) who can represent the lives of the common people.”

The common folk may be the last image associated with Park Geun-hye, the daughter of late President Park Chung-hee. She became the acting first lady in 1974 at 22, when her mother was killed in an assassination attempt on her father by a Japanese-Korean agent acting on North Korea’s orders. Five years later, she would lose another parent to gunshots.

Critics have often described her as an “ice princess” for her aloof demeanor and lack of humor.

Park’s television commercial confronts her impersonal persona heads on. “Whether big or small, there is no person who lives without scars,” says the narration in the beginning, as Park looks out the windows in a rainy evening. 

The frame transitions to a shot of Park being attacked by an extremist in Sinchon in 2006, who slashed her face with a box-cutter. The narration reads that the attack left Park forever changed. The camera zooms in on the wound on the right side of her face, and then a crowd of people holding a candlelight vigil for Park’s recovery.

“For the rest of my life, I decided that I will tend to the scars of the people,” the narrator says, “it is now time to dedicate myself to you,” as Park once again looks out the window.

The 60-second commercial then ends with the phrase, “prepared female president,” along with her name and her candidacy number, 1.

“The commercial utilizes the story-telling process, to be more accessible to the voters, and as it is based on true events, it will be more relatable” said Byun Choo-seok, who manages publicity for Park’s campaign. “It also contains the message that Park has lived a life with many scars, and as someone who overcame them, she will now dedicate the rest of her life to the people.”

By Samuel Songhoon Lee (songhoon@heraldcorp.com)