Top-tier candidates all out to win 15% or more in main game; Minority runners eye last-minute merger before campaign period

The forthcoming May 9 presidential election is a financial gamble for the political parties and their respective candidate, especially for the minority parties with slim chances of winning.

For the top-tier candidates -- currently Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea and Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party -- it would be easier to reach above the 15 percent mark in their final voter turnout so they can retrieve their campaign expenses.

But for most of the lower-tier figures, 15 percent is almost unreachable. This is part of the reason why they are grappling over the possible scenario of a merger by the upcoming weekend to avoid the full deposit payment for the main race.

According to the Public Official Election Act, presidential candidates are to submit 300 million won ($261,757) to the National Election Commission.

Of the total amount, 20 percent, or 60 million won, is to be paid in advance during the preliminary registration period and the rest just ahead of the official campaign period.

Once in the main race, candidates have to obtain a minimum of 10 percent of votes in order to reclaim half of their candidacy deposit, or 15 percent in order to retrieve the entire amount.

If their turnout lingers below the 10 percent mark, all 300 million won is to revert to the nation’s treasury, which is most often the case, except for a few prominent candidates.

The only way for a preliminary candidate to preserve his or her deposit upon dropping out of the race is to make it to the party’s final primary and lose. Those who step down voluntarily midway may not have access to their deposits, a rule which was introduced to limit excessive candidate entries.

According to such regulations, Sohn Hak-kyu and Rep. Park Joo-sun -- aspirants of the People’s Party who lost to party front-runner Rep. Ahn -- had their money returned upon withdrawing from the candidate list.

But this will not be the case for Kim Jin and Ahn Sang-soo of the Liberty Korea Party, who earlier registered themselves as preliminary candidates and failed to reach the final primary.

Of course, money isn’t always the reason, or the only reason, behind every political maneuver.

Even those who have a slim chance of reaching the 15 percent mark choose to complete the race for their own political cause.

Rep. Sim Sang-jeung of the progressive minority Justice Party has a support rating of about 3-4 percent in opinion polls, but she has pledged to complete the race without dropping out this year.

“I will not drop out from the race nor partner with other opposition runners for a unified single candidacy. I will finish the race no matter what,” Sim of the Justice Party told The Korea Herald in a recent interview.

The progressive politics we pursue is to compete for responsibility, not radicalism or boldness. I’m running because I think it is about time for our party to govern,” she said.

Bareun Party’s Rep. Yoo Seong-min, who trails Sim in support ratings, also expressed determination to finish the race.

“I am not worried about the election fund. I have made up my mind to pursue direct contacts with voters through social media and other channels. Money isn’t a major concern for me,” he said.

Campaign finance chiefs generally try to limit election spending to implement spending boundaries -- 50.9 billion won per candidate -- and to have as much of it as possible returned afterward by making it above the 15 percent mark on polling day.

In the 18th presidential election in 2012, the then-ruling Saenuri Party and the then-main opposition Democratic United Party respectively got back 35.3 billion won and 46.7 billion won from the NEC.

By Bae Hyun-jung ()


koreaherald@heraldcorp.com