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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 1:55 am Post subject: The Presidential Race in Korea (2007) |
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So, there are already some semi-declared candidates (although many of them have yet to get their party's nod). Anyone have some good links to info on them (ie Biographies?)
I have a feeling we're in for one heck of a rollercoaster ride.
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The "not-so-handsome Devil" Lee Myung Bak
AKA "The Bulldozer"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Myung_Bak
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Lee Myung-bak (Korean: 이명박, Hanja: 李明博, born December 19, 1941 in Osaka, Japan) is a former mayor of Seoul, South Korea and is considered a major contender to succeed Roh Moo-hyun as president. He is a member of the Grand National Party. As mayor of Seoul he was known for his innovative policy initiatives and especially for the restoration of the Chonggyecheon stream. He is regarded as a conservative and has called for South Korea to take a harder line on North Korea and for a greater emphasis on free-market solutions.
Elected to the National Assembly in 1992, Lee has several times run afoul of campaign finance laws. He was fined 4 million won in 1996, and was indicted in 2002 for beginning electioneering activities too early. He escaped the two-year sentence sought by prosecutors. Prior to entering politics he was the CEO of six Hyundai affiliates between 1977 and 1992. A graduate of Korea University, in 1964 he was jailed for 6 months for protesting the normalization of relations with Japan. |
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Park Geun Hye
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Geunhye
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Park Geun-hye (born February 2, 1952) is a South Korean politician. She is a member of the National Assembly and was the head of the conservative Grand National Party. She is now in her third parliamentary term, having first been elected in 1998, and is widely expected to be her party's nominee to succeed presidential incumbent Roh Moo-hyun. Her father was Park Chung Hee, the president of South Korea from 1961 to 1979.
Born in Samdeok-dong, in the Jung-gu district of Daegu, Park now resides in nearby Gumi City. She graduated from Seoul's Seongsim High School in 1970, going on to receive a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Sogang University in 1974. In 1987, she earned her doctoral degree from Chinese Culture University in Taiwan. Park was also the president of Yeungnam University from 1982 to 1991.
Park lost her mother to a leftist Japanese-Korean assassin in 1974 and her father to his own intelligence chief 1979 (See: Park Chung Hee assassination). From 1974 to 1979, Park was regarded as the nation's first lady.
On May 20, 2006, a 50-year old man slashed Park's face with a small knife, causing a 10-centimeter wound on her face, requiring 60 stitches and hours of surgery.[1][2]
On February 12, 2007, Park made a much-publicized visit to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her visit culminated in an address to a packed audience at the Kennedy School of Government, where she said she wanted to "save" Korea and advocated a stronger relationship between the Republic of Korea and the US. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 4:31 am Post subject: Re: The Presidential Race in Korea (2007) |
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Both of them are going for the same party, aren't they?
I don't like Lee Myungbag because he's an egotist Christian politician, and I don't like Park Geunrye because she takes after her dad a bit too much, and there's a good chance my father-in-law will go back to the ol' political prison if she gets elected. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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blynch
Joined: 25 Oct 2006
Location: UCLA
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 6:45 am Post subject: Re: The Presidential Race in Korea (2007) |
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| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| I don't like Park Geunrye because she takes after her dad a bit too much, and there's a good chance my father-in-law will go back to the ol' political prison if she gets elected. |
what does he do? |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 7:00 am Post subject: Re: The Presidential Race in Korea (2007) |
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| It's kind of complicated. He is the leader of a political group that thinks Koreans should acknowledge that the Japanese occupation was not totally bad Japanese forcing themselves on good Koreans, as some Koreans helped them control the peninsula. Basically this means they're naming people who betrayed Korea back then, and coincidentally the descendants of those people are all very powerful. I know the guy who runs Joongang had a grandfather who sentenced a large number of Korean activists to death for minor civil disobedience, and also a lot of famous Korean poets have been revealed to have written pro-Japanese propaganda. And of course Park Junghee volunteered for the Japanese air force. It's basically the truth and it doesn't sound extremely offensive, but if Korea goes back to military dictatorship it'll be enough to send him up the river. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 7:16 am Post subject: |
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| but if Korea goes back to military dictatorship it'll be enough to send him up the river. |
Why would Korea do that? And what are the signs that it is even possible these days? For 7 years the army has sat quietly by while the Kim DJ and Noh Moo-Hyun have flirted and all but sold the country to the Norks and done nothing.
If anyone wants to revisit the past, it is Uri Dang. |
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blynch
Joined: 25 Oct 2006
Location: UCLA
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 7:19 am Post subject: Re: The Presidential Race in Korea (2007) |
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| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| He is the leader of a political group that thinks Koreans should acknowledge that the Japanese occupation was not totally bad Japanese forcing themselves on good Koreans, as some Koreans helped them control the peninsula. And of course Park Junghee volunteered for the Japanese air force. It's basically the truth and it doesn't sound extremely offensive, but if Korea goes back to military dictatorship it'll be enough to send him up the river. |
i totally concur... for example, the japanese introduced "public education" in 1910(?) as they annexed korea.
oh, i heard park junghee graduated from the imperial army acedemy and
(off the topic... ) |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 8:50 am Post subject: |
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| Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
Why would Korea do that? And what are the signs that it is even possible these days? For 7 years the army has sat quietly by while the Kim DJ and Noh Moo-Hyun have flirted and all but sold the country to the Norks and done nothing.
If anyone wants to revisit the past, it is Uri Dang. |
I really don't believe that whole line "being nice to North Korea will make them stronger." I think it will make them weaker. Farking over your own citizens is a crime far worse than being diplomatic with your neighbours.
Korea fought long and hard for democracy, then had it taken away for a couple decades, fought long and hard again, and so on. The woman who might become the next president is the daughter of the most anti-democratic, pro-Japanese, pro-communist leader this country ever had.
If the "weak, diplomatic" parties get elected/re-elected, what will happen to freedom in this country? |
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faster
Joined: 03 Sep 2006
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 9:57 am Post subject: |
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| Park Geun-hye is the George W. Bush of Korea. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 10:27 am Post subject: |
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| No, she's more like the Alessandra Mussolini of Korea. |
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jaganath69
Joined: 17 Jul 2003
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Just as long as Uri or the loony left don't take power again, I'll be happy. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 4:48 pm Post subject: |
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| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| The woman who might become the next president is the daughter of the most anti-democratic, pro-Japanese, pro-communist leader this country ever had. |
Woah, where are you getting that? |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 7:32 pm Post subject: |
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Let's not forget that anything can happen in Korean politics. Roh wasn't the leader going into the 2003 election, yet he got the nomination and beat the Grand National Party candidate. But one thing is for sure, the pro-North Korea policies are wearing thin on the public, and the mass defection of lawmakers from the Uri Party hasn't helped.
Sohn Hak-kyu, the former governor of Gyeonggi Province, is in the running and perhaps Koreans will be swayed by his attraction of large-scale foreign investment to the province. People here think Roh is clueless over the economy, and thus a person with a business background has an advantage.
Chung Dong-young, former unification minister, is supposed to be the leading candidate for the Uri Party, whatever that means now. I think the party is screwed no matter who runs given how fed up Koreans are over the president. |
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Neil
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 9:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Captain Corea wrote: |
| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| The woman who might become the next president is the daughter of the most anti-democratic, pro-Japanese, pro-communist leader this country ever had. |
Woah, where are you getting that? |
Park was a member of the Korean Workers party after WW2, he was sentenced to life in jail after getting caught in a failed rebellion but was released after giving up the names of fellow communists.
Once the Korean war broke out he switched sides however. |
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willneverteachagain
Joined: 17 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 10:29 pm Post subject: |
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| korea has a president? |
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