While the South Korean conservative party endures internal conflicts over its primary process, the top liberal candidate Lee Jae-myung scored an overwhelming victory in a regional primary election held by the ruling Democratic Party (DP).
Gyeonggi Governor Lee won 54.72 percent of the vote in primary elections held in the Chungcheong region from September 4 to 5. Lee Nak-yon, a former Prime Minister under the Moon Jae-in administration and current lawmaker from the DP, came in second with 28.19 percent. This was followed by another former Prime Minister from the Moon administration, Chung Sye-kyun, with 7.05 percent and Choo Mi-ae, former Justice Minister from the Moon administration, with 6.81 percent.
The gap between Gov. Lee and former Prime Minister Lee is more significant than what many commentators predicted. Some news media reported that former Prime Minister Lee canceled his schedule on September 6 after the results were announced. Some members of Lee’s election campaign told the media that many were shocked by the results and that there are even some people saying that Lee is considering dropping out of the race.
The DP’s next primary election will be held in Gangwon Province on September 12. Gov. Lee visited Gangwon on Monday and held a press conference calling for support. “Gangwon was excluded from regional development due to various regulations which aim to secure national security, since the region is directly facing North Korea,” Lee said.
He then included another controversial pro-Pyongyang comment. “I will reopen the Mount Kumgang resort tourism program which has been shut down since 2009,” he said. “I will find ways for the North and the South to coexist through pragmatic North Korean policies that can benefit both of us, starting with the resumption of the Mount Kumgang tourism program.”
When asked about specific plans about resuming the tourism program, he only provided a vague response. “World affairs are something that we ourselves can do whatever we would like to do, so I would try to secure as many communication routes and persuade other interested countries.” He added that “it is difficult for me to give a detailed timeline or method at this point.”
In 2008, Seoul imposed a set of sanctions after a North Korean soldier shot and killed a 53-year-old tourist at the Mount Kumgang resort. The tourism program has been shut down since then, as North Korea never made a formal apology and made no promises that such an incident would not happen again.
South Korean leftists continue to argue that the Mount Kumgang tourism program could be resumed as it is a humanitarian issue, instead of a national security issue. However, the international community, including the United Nations and the United States, does not see it that way. This issue has been very contentious between the two sides, particularly under the Moon Jae-in administration.
As Gov. Lee is performing much better than was expected in the primary, conservative politicians and the media have started questioning his past behavior and comments more often than they used to.
Rep. Park Jin from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) argued on Sunday that “an economic populist can make people poor, but a national security populist can bring people to their death.” He suggested that Lee’s populist policies are dangerous, but his views on national security are even more troublesome. “As a key presidential candidate from the ruling party, Lee should clearly explain his stance on national security,” Park emphasized.
Park raised Lee’s previous interview with the Chinese government-run CCTV in March 2017, shortly before the previous presidential election. At that time, Lee said “if I become the president, I will withdraw the decision to deploy [the U.S.] Terminal High Altitude Area Defense [THAAD] system.”
Rep. Park argued that “a person who ran for a president of the Democratic Party made a dangerous comment that voluntarily gives up our own national security sovereignty in front of Chinese state-run media.” Park added that the THAAD system has a defensive purpose of preparing for North Korean tactical nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles. Park also mentioned that Lee changed his stance on this issue during the DP candidates’ debate held last month, where he said, “my stance is that we need some newer judgment into this issue,” while not explaining details.
“This is not something where one can make a different decision once the situation changes as Gov. Lee argued,” Park said. “This also is not something where we have to choose between either the United States or China.”
Chang Sung-min, another presidential candidate from the PPP, also attacked Lee’s comment from 2017. “His interview with the Chinese CCTV is just shocking,” he said. “If it is true that he is planning on withdrawing the missile defense system, he needs to tell this honestly to the public.”
Chung argued that the withdrawal of THAAD would make South Korea slide under the influence of the Chinese government and cause significant national security issues.
Meanwhile, a new poll showed mixed views among people on their desire to see a change in administration and the candidate they support. According to Korea Society Opinion Institute on Monday, 49.8 percent of respondents answered that a candidate from the opposition party should be elected to achieve an administration change. On the other hand, 42.7 percent said that the ruling party’s candidate should be elected to continue the current administration.
The survey also asked about which candidate they support. The study found that Gov. Lee defeated all candidates from both his party and the PPP with 28 percent of the total. This was followed by former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl from the PPP with 26.4 percent and Rep. Hong Joon-pyo (PPP) with 13.6 percent. This was the first survey in which Hong moved up to third place.
Another recent survey came out that indicated Hong was actually leading all of his rivals from the PPP. According to pollster Rnsearch on Sunday, Hong’s approval rating among PPP candidates reached 32.5 percent, while Yoon recorded 29.1 percent. He was followed by former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min (9.6 percent) and former head of the Board of Audit and Inspection Choe Jae-hyeong (4.1 percent). This was the first time that Hong came first in a poll. Hong himself called it the “golden cross.”
The PPP itself is still divided over internal conflicts on deciding the specific rules of the primary and questioning other candidates’ qualifications.
One of the biggest issues ahead of the PPP primary is how to set the rule for the party election. For weeks now, candidates and party officials have been debating whether to allow people who do not support the party to participate in primary elections. The top candidate like Yoon expressed discomfort with this, as there could be a faction of people who purposely vote for the candidate that is most vulnerable or has the lowest chance of winning in the actual presidential election. However, candidates such as Hong, who had fallen behind in the polls, are arguing that this method is necessary to reflect public sentiment.
Many conservative commentators in the country have expressed concerns that the PPP is causing fatigue by showing that they themselves cannot be united ahead of the election, which is considered one of the most important elections in years.
