Korea, presidential campaign underway
Seoul (AsiaNews) - On December 19, South Korean's go to the polls in the 18th presidential election to decide on Lee Myung-bak's succesor, the current occupant of the Blue House. The issue is very sensitive, since, unlike previous elections, there are 3 (and not 2) candidates, each with a completely different program.
In the running are Park Geun-hye, Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo. The latter two are thinking about a possible electoral ticket: in view of the polls, one could give up for the sake of the other and become then prime minister.
Park Geun-hye is the candidate of the Saenuri party, currently the parliamentary majority and the party of the current president Lee Myung-bak. Until last February it was known as the "Grand National Party" and is an array with authoritarian tendencies: limited dialogue with North Korea, little sensitivity to the welfare state and the economy top priority.
The Park has been baptized but is a professed atheist: she recently met with the head of the Jogye Order, the largest and most powerful Buddhist order in South Korea, to try to gain their support. Daughter of the dictator Park Chung-hee, she was "first lady" of the country for several years: her mother died in an assassination attempt on her husband.
Moon Jae-in is instead the candidate of the Democrats. The son of a refugee from North Korea, a practicing Catholic, Moon was expelled from university and forced to enrol in the army for having organized protests against the Yushin, the dictatorial policy set by President Park Chung-hee (father of the conservative candidate).
After his compulsory service he devoted himself to law school, founded a liberal newspaper and led the successful campaign of former President Roh Moo-hyun, to whom he was chief of staff. After Roh's suicide, prompted by accusations of corruption, he read a funeral oration which sparked the admiration of the country: the party nominated him shortly afterwards.
Ahn Cheol-soo is the third candidate, and an independent. Married to a fervent Catholic, he has had tremendous success in the field of computer science. He trained at a Catholic university, where his wife was volunteering with seminarians, and developed a virus that has captured the market. He founded the leading technology company AhnLab, which lead to his political commitment.
Last year, he donated 218 million US dollars (half of hiscompany shares) to provide education to poor children. For this he was accused by opponents of "populism" he replied, "if for populism you mean caring about people then yes, I am a populist".
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12/02/2016 15:14
12/04/2017 09:26
