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enns
Joined: 02 May 2006
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 Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:14 am Post subject: Lee Myung-bak Wins Election in Landslide |
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South Korea's Lee 'wins election'
Voting has ended in South Korea's presidential election, with exit polls suggesting conservative candidate Lee Myung-bak has won a landslide victory.
Mr Lee had been widely expected to triumph in the ballot, despite being under investigation for alleged fraud.
Exit polls showed Mr Lee winning more than 50% of the vote, easily defeating ruling party candidate Chung Dong-young and independent Lee Hoi-chang.
The winner will replace Roh Moo-hyun, whose five-year term ends in February.
Front-runner
Analysts said the main issue for most of the country's 37 million voters was the economy.
Mr Lee, a 65-year-old former Hyundai executive, seems to have convinced many that he can attract investment and boost the job market.
But his campaign was overshadowed by claims that he was involved in stock market fraud.
Fights broke out in parliament when MPs passed a bill to establish an independent inquiry into the allegations - to be completed before the presidential inauguration in February.
Casting his vote in the capital, Seoul, Mr Lee thanked supporters for defending him from what he called "numerous negative campaigns" and urged people to turn out and vote.
"This time, we have to change the government without fail," he said.
A victory for Mr Lee would see his Grand National Party (GNP) return to power for the first time in a decade.
'Truth and lies'
But his main rival - Chung Dong-young, of the governing liberal United New Democratic Party (UNDP) - said such a victory would bring disgrace on the country.
"This election is a battle between truth and lies," he told journalists as he cast his ballot.
In the last opinion poll before the vote, Mr Lee registered a 30-point lead over Mr Chung, a former cabinet minister.
Analysts say the other mainstream challenger, veteran conservative Lee Hoi-chang, has little chance of making an impact.
A Lee Myung-bak win could usher in a tougher stance towards North Korea, reports the BBC's John Sudworth from Seoul.
Mr Lee says he wants to see more in return for the aid and trade given to Pyongyang as a result of the decade-long policy of engagement.
But the issue ranks low on the list of priorities for South Koreans, our correspondent adds.
Many are focused instead on the state of the economy and if the opinion polls are to be believed, the South Korean public may be willing to put aside questions of ethics when voting for the man they think best suited to the job. |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7150806.stm
Good for Korea but bad for foreigners? |
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Julius
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:49 am Post subject: |
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Logically speaking, a stock market fraudster is probably smartest when it comes to the economy.
But he's certainly not a charismatic idealist. |
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sundubuman
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: seoul
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:11 am Post subject: |
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| good-bye to the anti-American leadership of Korea...... |
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normalcyispasse
Joined: 27 Oct 2006
Location: Yeosu until the end of February WOOOOOOOO
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:28 am Post subject: |
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| This scares me. He'll do good things for the Korean economy (and his own pocketbooks, certainly) but this country desperately needs social reform and 이명박 will not provide that. Nor will he, I think, uphold the Sunshine Treaty or work towards the reunification of the peninsula. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:46 am Post subject: |
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| normalcyispasse wrote: |
| This scares me. He'll do good things for the Korean economy (and his own pocketbooks, certainly) but this country desperately needs social reform and 이명박 will not provide that. Nor will he, I think, uphold the Sunshine Treaty or work towards the reunification of the peninsula. |
Out of his proposed policies, which ones don't you like? |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:59 am Post subject: |
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| this country desperately needs social reform and 이명박 will not provide that |
I agree. With Uri, the social reform was in fits and starts, but at least there was a basic commitment to the idea. I doubt we'll see even that from a GNP administration.
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| Nor will he, I think, uphold the Sunshine Treaty or work towards the reunification of the peninsula. |
I don't think you'll see a total reversal in terms of actual practice. The rhetoric toward the North will probably be a bit more confrontational, especially in the more symbolic areas that don't really have much real-world impact(voting against NK at the UN, and showing up for the memorials for sailors killed in the sea battles.) But I wouldn't bet on a sudden implementation of a more hardnosed policy from the GNP. I suspect that the joint ventures already underway will remain in place, though Lee might attach a few more strings.
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| He'll do good things for the Korean economy |
Maybe, but I think that overall economic performance isn't all that dependant on which party is in power. I'm assuming that all the viable parties subscribe to the same broad set of economic tenets.
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| and his own pocketbooks, certainly |
Well, the media and the opposition are gonna be all over him like dogs on meat, what with the BBK video being released TWO DAYS before the election. Not sure how easy it would be for him to just dive right into a free-for-all corruption spree. |
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bluelake
Joined: 01 Dec 2005
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 4:31 am Post subject: |
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I'm fairly optimistic about Lee's election. I think Lee will try to recapture the spirit of moving on which was real up to '97. DJ had to deal with the financial collapse and then focused on the Sunshine Policy; there went 5 years. Roh started out saying he wanted to redistribute what wealth was already here, and put out the Hub of Asia nonsense; there went another 5 years.
I'm dubious of the canal proposal, but I like the attitude of setting a big goal and rallying the public to achieve it. Those of us who have been around awhile know what Koreans are like when they get excited about something. It can be exciting.
I'm not sure why people think the GNP is a socially conservative party. Sure it has elements that are, but so did the old Uri Party.
North Korea: My prediction is that Lee is going to continue the engagement policy, especially where business opportunies exist, but there isn't going to be the shameless bow-down-to-the-Norks kowtowing that Roh displayed. My friends were disgusted with it. I strongly suspect we'll hear a lot more about human rights, divided families and maybe even the hundreds of kidnapped South Koreans.
My concern right now is that the tape scandal that came out a couple of days ago is going to turn out to be real and Lee will take office under the cloud of a major criminal investigation and be hamstrung before he ever gets started. |
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Privateer
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 5:02 am Post subject: |
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| Judging from his past record he's going to use his position to help both himself and his cronies to public money. As for his economic policies we'll see, but South Korea is long past the stage of needing investment in transport infrastructure, which seems to be his main idea - an idea borrowed wholesale from Park Chung Hee but in a whole different era. |
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Kimchi Cha Cha
Joined: 15 May 2003
Location: was Suncheon, now Brisbane
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 5:34 am Post subject: |
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It seems most people are saying that Lee Myung Bak will take a slightly tougher stance with North Korea, not kowtowing to North half as much as Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun did.
I was just wondering whether people think this could in turn see a more belligerent, reactionary North Korea? |
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 5:45 am Post subject: |
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I think LMB is a shady guy, whether or not it's proven is another matter.
The canal idea is a bad one. First of all, Korea only has a limited amount of land. Second, it's terrible for the environment. I hope that part of his "initiatives" never makes it off the ground. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 7:50 am Post subject: |
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I'm not sure why people think the GNP is a socially conservative party. Sure it has elements that are, but so did the old Uri Party.
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It's not so much that I think they're gonna be aggressively socially conservative, just that they'll likely be less in tune with those groups in society who are calling for reform. More just a policy of neglect than anything else.
Though I'd be curious to know where they stand on things like consicentious objection, and enforcement of the national security laws. |
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Pyongshin Sangja
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Location: I love baby!
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:04 am Post subject: |
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| Many congratulation Reemy Ong Park for having the biggest erect in history Korea! |
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Shimokitazawa
Joined: 14 Dec 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:48 pm Post subject: |
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Korea will become more like Thailand - if it wasn't already.
Watch for increased xenophobia, nationalistic pride and intolerance of foreigners (see new visa law regulations).
Corruption, and weird construction mega-projects with bizarre names, will continue at all levels.
Last edited by Shimokitazawa on Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:49 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Paddycakes
Joined: 05 May 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:48 pm Post subject: |
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According to my K-Wife, the guy is a crook and he was largely voted in because he is a Christian, and the local ministers encouraged their flocks to vote for him.
He made all his money in real-estate, and apparently has some bizarre plan to build a canal across Korea.
Speaking to some local Koreans about the guy, they seem quite impressed by his rags to riches story, as if all that matters is personality.
My K-wife was truly shaking her head at her fellow countrymen over this. |
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