Rival parties have started preparation for the Oct. 30 by-election but the race is feared to have already lost some tension as the main opposition Democratic Party failed to field a strong rival against the ruling Saenuri Party’s political heavyweight.

The number of vacant constituencies up for grabs was reduced to two from around nine as previously anticipated due to pending court decisions on some of the indicted lawmakers. Independent Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, a potentially threatening force for the major parties, also clarified he was staying out of the competition, further playing down the hype.

The outcome of this by-election, regardless of its small scale, is likely to be critical to the DP’s beleaguered leadership as it heads toward the local elections on June 4 next year, followed by another by-election in July, observers said.

“The DP should be relieved that the by-election is at such a small scale,” Hong Hyong-sik, president of Hangil Research, told The Korea Herald.

“What this means is that the DP is pushed so far into the corner that this election will not only be a failed attempt to ‘judge’ the Park Geun-hye administration, but could be used by the ruling camp as a new vote of confidence for Park,” Hong said.

The parties are set to complete their candidate registration with the National Election Commission by this Friday.

The Saenuri Party on Tuesday formalized their nomination of Suh Chung-won for the Hwaseong A constituency and Park Myung-jae for the Pohang Nam-gu-Ulleung-gun constituency.

Suh is a long-time confidant of President Park and former chairman of the conservative party, and his nomination had prompted opposition from party members for his involvement in a past cash-for-nomination conviction. Park Myung-jae served as the public administration minister during the Roh Moo-hyun administration.

“As we never know until the very last moment when it comes to elections, we will be exerting our best (for the win),” said Saenuri floor leader Rep. Choi Kyung-hwan. The Saenuri leadership plans to attend Suh’s campaign headquarters opening on Wednesday and join Park’s first rally this weekend.

The DP, crestfallen after the rejection by its former chairman Sohn Hak-kyu to go against Suh, decided on Oh Il-yong, chief of the DP’s committee for the constituency. The party chose Heo Dae-man, chief of its North Gyeongsang Province office, to run in Pohang Nam-gu-Ulleung-gun.

The party vowed to herald their candidates as “diligent long-time members” of the community against the rival’s “politically strategic choices,” and continue to slam the administration’s backtracked welfare pledges and what they called digressed democracy. The party also planned to create a watchdog team to check for fraudulent campaigning, focusing specifically on Hwaseong.

DP chairman Kim Han-gil will be traveling between Hwaseong and Pohang to support the rallies, the party said.

The DP’s stakes appear high in the two districts, as Pohang of North Gyeongsang Province has been run by a conservative lawmaker since the mid-1990s, while Hwaseong of Gyeonggi Province has also been showing preference to the ruling party candidates.

The seat in Hwaseong has been left vacant since the passing of Rep. Koh Hee-sun from cancer in August. The position in Pohang had been held by former Saenuri Party member Kim Hyung-tae who was relieved of his parliamentary seat in July for campaigning before the official period and providing rewards for some of his campaigners. Kim then left the Saenuri Party soon after being elected over alleged sexual harassment against his sister-in-law.

Suh, who had served six parliamentary terms, reportedly originally wished to run in his hometown of Chungcheong Province, but shifted his target to Hwaseong as there was no vacancy in the province before the deadline.

There are currently nine constituencies where Supreme Court rulings on the representative lawmakers are pending including in Seoul, Incheon, Suwon, Pyeongtaek, Seosan, Gumi, Jeonju and Naju.

By-elections are held when a lawmaker representing a constituency receives a final sentencing of a fine of 1 million won or more for violating the laws on elections of political funds, or is convicted of other crimes with a sentence of imprisonment.

The DP, meanwhile, struggled to turn the tide as it faced growing criticism for failing to play up a series of controversies to its advantage against the government and the ruling party, including the alleged Cheong Wa Dae pressure for the former prosecutor general’s resignation, and the scaled-down pension pledge.

It instead has been seen running pell-mell to defend itself from the persistent offensives from the ruling camp over the 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript misplacement controversy.

The leadership has also lost face after its days-long persuasion of Sohn failed publicly, which observers said was a “perfect chance gone amok to turn the table against the Park administration.”

“This is not just a fault of the leadership. Without the true transformation of the essence of the DP, next year’s elections will not appear any brighter,” Hong Hyong-shik said.

Internal tension continues to escalate as the party members criticized the so-called pro-Roh Moo-hyun forces of failing to sufficiently explain the prosecution’s allegation that the transcript was modified, deleted and never transferred to the National Archives.

“If the people wish for the disclosure, we have no other choice but to,” said DP Rep. Cho Kyoung-tae in a radio interview regarding the Saenuri Party’s demand that the voice recording of the summit meeting in question be revealed.

Cho also demanded responsibility from Rep. Moon Jae-in, Roh’s former chief of staff, and said, “There is a need for (Moon) to clarify his position… As he had declared he would retire from politics (if Roh’s controversial comments during the summit are found true), and that he would take responsibility (for any wrongdoing on his part), I would think he would do as he has said.”

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)