Election fever is rising as the ruling party’s presidential frontrunner Park Geun-hye readies to become the Saenuri Party’s chosen candidate on Monday, while the main opposition candidates prepare for a provincial primary tour.
The Saenuri Party will name its presidential nominee at a national caucus at KINTEX in Ilsan by announcing the votes cast by party members and citizens nationwide on Sunday.
Former chairwoman Park Geun-hye maintained a distant lead over her four contenders during the controversial primary period, which was eclipsed by the London Olympics and the cash-for-nomination scandal.
The ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate Rep. Park Geun-hye leaves a polling booth in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul, as she votes in the party’s nationwide primary on Sunday. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)
Political observers said that despite her in-house contenders’ persistent attacks on her family background and leadership style, she would come out an easy winner with between 70 to 80 percent of the vote.
Former presidential chief-of-staff Yim Tae-hee, former South Gyeongsang Gov. Rep. Kim Tae-ho, former Incheon mayor Ahn Sang-soo and Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Moon-soo will likely be competing for second place.
If Park wins, she will become the first woman presidential candidate to represent a major party in Korean history, and will vie against a progressive rival for the 18th presidency on Dec. 19.
The upcoming presidential race will also pivot around old politics versus the new, with the much-anticipated advance of political novice Ahn Cheol-soo, who is yet to choose his affiliation.
“The next month is a period where Park must fully notch up her campaign. She must execute a 180-degree turn in the way she speaks and the way she acts,” Kim Chong-in, a former economist and co-head of Park’s campaign team, told Yonhap News.
Park, criticized for her rigidness, is expected to focus on rallying conservative supporters and winning over moderates before the final opposition candidate is declared.
Software mogul-turned-scholar Ahn Cheol-soo has been in hot pursuit of Park in various popularity polls as a close second, despite continuing coyness about his presidential ambitions. As the race heats up, the Saenuri Party is expected to intensify its attack on his political qualifications, while the Democratic United Party tries to court Ahn.
The DUP will begin its provincial primary tour from Aug. 25, starting with Jeju. The candidates ― former presidential chief-of-staff Moon Jae-in, South Jeolla Gov. Park Joon-yung, senior advisor Sohn Hak-kyu, former South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Doo-kwan and Rep. Chung Sye-kyun ― will tour around 13 constituencies until Sept. 16. If a single candidate fails to earn 50 percent or more of the vote by the end of the tour, the top two candidates will face each other in a run-off on Sept. 18-23.
Moon is currently in the lead with around 30 pecent in opinion polls. He has set a goal of earning more than 50 percent of the vote from the regional primary tour, where the size of the turnout will be the key.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
