The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles on major contenders in the forthcoming May 9 presidential election, using a SWOT analysis to present their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Below is the fourth installment on Rep. Yoo Seong-min of the conservative Bareun Party. -- Ed.

 

Like his party, Rep. Yoo Seong-min is a minor player in the race for presidency. Yoo’s Bareun Party has one of the lowest approval ratings for a conservative party in recent history, and his own ratings remain far behind the front-runners.

However, Yoo is not without his strengths.

Born to a judge father in 1958 in Daegu, Yoo holds a doctorate in economics and has a long experience of working as a researcher on related issues.

He entered politics in 2005 through a parliamentary by-election, grew in presence and served as the floor leader of the defunct Saenuri Party in 2015.





Strengths

Yoo has one clear advantage over his rivals –--economic expertise.

Yoo has a doctorate in economics and spent more than a decade as a researcher with the Korea Development Institute. Yoo also headed the conservative party’s think tank from 2002 until 2005, when he entered politics.

In contrast, Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea is a lawyer, while Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party is a medical doctor who later became a software developer. Liberty Korea Party’s Hong Joon-pyo began his professional life as a public prosecutor.

He is also known for speaking his mind regardless of the consequences.

During his term at the KDI, he is said to have experienced unfair treatment for criticizing the Kim Dae-jung administration’s economic policies. He also spoke out against those of the Park Geun-hye administration.


Weaknesses

The connection to former President Park Geun-hye is one of Yoo’s biggest weaknesses.

Yoo was once a key ally of Park. However, after he criticized the idea of welfare without tax hikes, Park branded his actions a “betrayal” and he was forced to run as an independent in the following Assembly elections, before rejoining the Saenuri Party. The “traitor” brand was further strengthened when he defected from the party founded under Park’s leadership to form the Bareun Party.

This image is being emphasized by the Liberty Korea Party and their candidate Hong, as they claim that they are the “rightful heirs” of Korean conservatism and that Yoo is a traitor.

The low approval rating of Yoo’s party is also working against Yoo. The party is one of the least popular. Its ratings fell to 4 percent in a recent Gallup Korea poll, matching that of the Justice Party.

Yoo’s support rating as a presidential candidate also remains far behind his rivals. The Gallup poll showed support for Yoo was at 4 percent, just over half that of Hong whose campaign was only officially launched Monday.


Opportunities

Opportunity is something Yoo appears to lack more than anything else.

Polls showed the majority of voters support the two front-runners -- Moon and Ahn -- while Hong is going into overdrive to make up for lost time.

Although Yoo claims that he is the right man to lead the conservatives, he and his party are still trailing behind the others, even in the conservative strongholds.

However, his economic expertise could set him apart in the presidential candidates’ televised debate. Of the scheduled three live debates, two are to be conducted without prepared materials, and Yoo’s long experience as a researcher is expected by some people to give him an edge.

The effect the debates will have on support ratings remains to be seen. Polls conducted after the debates held during the 2012 election showed that any changes in candidates’ ratings were within the margin of error. 


Threats

For Yoo, the main rival is not liberal front-runner Moon or centrist Ahn. It is Hong of the Liberty Korea Party, which he and his fellow Bareun Party politicians famously broke up with.

Yoo and Hong are not just vying for the presidential job, but hegemony over the nation’s fractured political right.

Yoo is likely to face more attacks from his conservative rival and pressure to merge with Hong.

Hong has voiced the need for the two parties to merge on numerous occasions, and has even gone as far as to claim that Yoo and his party would “evaporate” if a merger does not occur before the election.

With less than four weeks until voting day, Yoo has to expand his presence fast if he is to complete the race, a feat even some in his own party are beginning to doubt.

The party has for now settled on seeing Yoo’s campaign through and Yoo has ruled out any form of alliance or merging his campaign with that of another.

However, Rep. Kim Sung-tae -- the chief of Bareun Party’s election committee -- has hinted at the possibility of an alliance with Ahn of the People’s Party.

Speaking on a radio interview, Kim said that politics is a living organism and that a politician must consider all possible means “within the frame of the presidential race.”

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)