Conservatives
Dominate General Polls

Big names rise and fall; Park Geun-hye emerges stronger

Apparently in defiance of the chronic amateurism shown by liberal forces under the former President Roh government, the people largely opted for conservative figures during the parliamentary elections, which ended April 19. The rise of conservatism has been natural in many senses given the widespread antipathy against the legacy of the previous administration, dominated by a liberal-minded, younger generation as close confidants to the head of state.
The governing Grand National Party (GNP Chairman Kang Jae-sup), other conservative splinter groups and independents secured about 180 out of the 299 seats in the 18th National Assembly elections.
If conservative forces unite, they will be able to change the Constitution without help from opposition lawmakers, who are likely to fight to stop possible unilateral changes. Progressive parties and many self-proclaimed reform-minded lawmakers, on the other hand, failed to sustain their parliamentary seats, defeated by conservative rivals.
The elections, meanwhile, showed again that the regionalism dividing the east and west for decades is still prevalent as UDP candidates swept votes in the southwestern Jeolla region, while GNP candidates did well in the southeastern Gyeongsang provinces.
In the Chungcheong provinces, the Liberty Forward Party, which merged with the Chungcheong-based People First Party, won most of the seats up for grabs in the elections.
Voters in Seoul and the nearby Gyeonggi area also indicated a strong tendency to vote together. The conservative GNP won in about 40 neck-and-neck races in the 111 capital area districts. With the GNP gaining a majority on its own for the first time in 20 years, President Lee Myung-bak is expected to receive helping hands to push through his reform agenda, said a political analyst.
'Clearly, having a majority in the Assembly will help Lee immensely in pushing his agenda on a range of issues,'said Andy Jackson who teaches American government in the Lakeland College bridge program at Ansan College in Gyeonggi Province.
"A friendly legislature will help him by providing a budget to pay for his projects."A powerful governing party is also expected to give the President a boost to overcome legal obstacles to push his controversial cross-country waterway project to link Seoul and Busan and planned economic reforms to cut taxes and deregulate business. Also, the GNP's majority of seats will likely give him quick approval for the free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States.
"With a friendly legislature, if some action he wishes to take is illegal, he can simply have the law changed. With regards to the canal project, I imagine that there will likely have to be a few adjustments in environmental and other laws to accommodate it,"the professor said.
The GNP majority in the legislature, however, cannot guarantee almighty power for Lee to push through his reform agenda, if it is widely received negatively by the public.
"The party will be reluctant to commit long-term suicide by consistently supporting unpopular measures.
Lee will need to maintain public support for his proposals or he will see GNP members become reluctant to support him,"Jackson said.
He continued, "The last two years of the Roh Moo-hyun administration were plagued by strained relations between the President and segments of his party. That is something Lee will want to avoid."Voters residing in Seoul and nearby satellite cities turned out to be decisive factors in determining the victory of the conservative forces. Progressive forces are stuck in the mire in the Assembly elections as most of their candidates failed to seek reelection.
More voters chose heavyweights belonging to the governing Grand National Party (GNP) over those from the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) in the National Assembly elections, according to exit polls Wednesday.
Chung Mong-joon, the youngest son of the late founder of the Hyundai Group, Chung Ju-yung, successfully won his sixth term in a row on the GNP ticket, defeating big-name UDP candidate Chung Dong-young in Dongjak,
Seoul, with support of about 50 percent.
Those elected on the GNP ticket included Rep. Lee Jong-koo from the Gangnam electoral district,; Rep. Chung Doo-un from the Seodaemun district,; Rep. Na Kyung-won from the Junggu district,; Rep. Chin Soo-hee from the Seongdong-gu district,; and Lee Chun-shik on the GNP's ticket under the proportional representation system. Paek Sung-woon, a close confidant of President Lee, won an upset victory over ex-prime minister Han Myung-sook from the Ilsan Dong-gu district in Gyeonggi Province.
Political observers said his first win in a Seoul district will enable him to gain a firmer foothold in the party and even be elected leader after the party's convention in July.
Previously, he was elected in the southeastern industrial city of Ulsan where Hyundai Heavy Industries is located.
On the other hand, his UDP rival is expected to lose ground in the party following his failure.
Chung Dong-young has been slammed within the UDP following his unsuccessful run in the Dec. 19 presidential election,
which he lost by the largest-ever margin of 22.6 percentage points.
UDP Co-chairman Sohn Hak-kyu also failed to win in Seoul's Jongno district, called the "Nation's No. 1 political avenue,"against his GNP rival Park Jin. However, he will likely hold onto his position because the party attained its goal of winning 80 seats or more. Even though the party failed to win 100 seats, the minimum number required to prevent a possible unilateral change of the Constitution by the president and the governing party, the UDP can make up the number by uniting with other opposition lawmakers-elect. Park Jin, known as a foreign affairs specialist, will be able to consolidate his status within the GNP after achieving his third election victory in the district.
In Eunpyeong, Seoul, Moon Kook-hyun the chairman of the minor opposition Creative Korea Party (CKP) beat lawmaker and President Lee's right-hand man Lee Jae-oh with about 50 percent of the vote, likely dooming any run for the GNP party leadership.
Meanwhile, former GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye garnered absolute support in the Daegu's Dalseong district. She received about 90 percent of the votes cast, giving Park a seat at the Assembly for the fourth consecutive time.
However, it still remains to be seen whether she can grab the party leadership again. Many of her confidants and supporters left the party after not being selected to run, and the GNP has not yet guaranteed their return. Park has proved her strong political influence again as "Pro-Park"figures, including GNP splinters and independents supporting her, succeeded in forming a parliamentary negotiation bloc by winning about 30 seats in the April elections.
Political groups must hold 20 seats or more to create a negotiation group. The "Pro-Park Geun-hye Alliance,"led by Suh Chung-won, won seven electoral districts, while independents gained 25 seats in the 299-member Assembly. Of the independents, about 20 are referred to as pro-Park candidates who bolted from the GNP last month amid bitter factional fighting with "Pro-Lee Myung-bak"politicians. Most of those who quit the party argued that the candidate selection was a political tactic to remove supporters of Park, the eldest daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee.
Park strongly denounced the process, boycotting campaign speeches for GNP candidates. She said to the deserters, "Come back after surviving."Kim Moo-sung, who won in a Busan district with support of more than 60 percent, said after the exit polls that he and other successful pro-Park candidates would return to the GNP.
"My victory is the people's judgment on the GNP selection procedure, which went against the people's wishes,"Kim, one of the closest confidants of Park, said. "Now things that resulted from the wrong process should be restored."It is unclear, however, if the GNP will accept the deserters because the party is expected to secure the majority of parliamentary seats up for grabs without them.
GNP Chairman Kang Jae-sup earlier made it clear that the party will not accept the deserters even if they are elected, while former GNP Chairwoman Park insists the party should allow the "victims"of the selection process to ?ome back home." nw

Grand National Party (GNP) Chairman Kang Jae-sup and other party leaders discuss the future direction of the parliament after the ruling GNP won a majority in the general polls held on April 19.

Former GNP chairwoman Park Geun-hye

Rep. Chung Mong-joon

Rep. Lee Han-koo

Rep. Lee Jong-koo

Rep. Chung Doo-un

Rep. Na Kyung-won