**Korean Presidential Election Results : FR Thread** (Socialist Vs. "RINO" Vs. Conservative)

Various Korean and Japanese news sources in local language | 18 December 2007 | AmericanInTokyo

[AmericanInTokyo]

4:00 AM EASTERN/1:00 AM PACIFIC (WEDNESDAY)

The polls have closed in South Korea.

The country has just voted for the next President of the Republic. It will be a five-year term. This follows the current, unpopular leftist regime of Roh Mu Hyon.

Results are now coming in.

The 2007 South Korean Presidential race, at the top of the field, pits three unique candidates against each other.

--One an appeaser of the current political regime/party (corrupt overtures and carrots to North Korea);

--one a "RINO" in a South Korean sense, running on the conservative party opposition ticket but with conciliatory and appeasing policies as well to North Korea;

--and finally, one a renegade independent effort by a conservative anti-communist patriot, feared by Kim Jong-il (and attacked and threatened by name in the North Korean press).

Ongoing election results and discussions will be posted here, extrapolated from local press here in Asia in the local languages. Please join if interested.

[AmericanInTokyo]

The "centrist RINO" Lee Myung Bak, (who has a better economic plan than the socialist libs--but who also has a questionable "Sunshine Light" policy towards the Chia Head).

The good guy, Lee Hoi Chang, got walloped pretty good, only 15% it seems.

[SevenofNine]

15% percent ouch nice see Socialist get b***hslap

[AmericanInTokyo]

No, sorry, the 15% went to the good guy Lee Hoi Chang, independent anti-Kim Jong il Conservative. Sorry!

[AmericanInTokyo]

Never mind. Now I understand.

Yes, indeed, the Socialists did get smacked, albeit by Moderates in this case, perhaps it will be some improvement, particularly on the economic front, but probably on it inevitably isolating the Chia Head and regime change in the DPRK.

[Tamar1973]

Lee Hoi Chang

He got 15%. That's good for a 3rd party candidate. I think part of the problem is that he ran on the Conservative ticket twice and lost. The Korean people just don't want him, period. Someone else ran on the conservative ticket and won, despite Lee Hoi Chang's entry into the race.

[AmericanInTokyo]

It does in fact add up to a stunning and massive anti-Uri Party/RohMuHyon-KimDaeJung backlash vote, so in that sense it is good.

[SevenofNine]

Hey would you rather Moderate or Conservative running South Korea

Hey isolating Chia Pet I am all for that LOL!

[AmericanInTokyo]

Yes. We have often referred here to “Good Lee” (Conservative/Independent) vs. “Bad Lee” (Moderate/RINO).
The GOOD LEE would have been much more desirable.

[Tamar1973]

I wonder how Yonsama voted! LMAO!

[AmericanInTokyo]

He strikes me as a Uri Party type.

[Tamar1973]

I doubt he voted at all. He got pretty banged up filming TWSSG. Let's see, a ruptured cervical disc, a torn ligament on his right index finger and a torn ligament in his knee, which now has him in a leg cast and a potential surgical candidate.

I'd ask him, "ever heard of a stunt double"?!?!

[TigerLikesRooster]

Sorry, I am out for yesterday, and could not contribute.
It seems to happen whenever important local event occur.:-)

A rather disappointing result. Whatever happens to S. Korea now lands squarely on Lee Myung-bak and his supporters.

I hope they would not say again that they wanted to cut off their fingers (for marking Lee Myung-bak’s slot on the ballot stub.)

[TigerLikesRooster]

Silver lining:

Lee Hoi-chang got just over 15%. This is significant for Lee Hoi-chang, because a candidate with more than 15% of support will get his election expense reimbursed by S. Korean law. Since Lee Hoi-chang did not spend much because he cannot get much financial help, he gets much more than what he spent, enough to be seed money for a real conservative party of his.

So he can still be around as a viable force to check Lee Myung-bak.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Since Lee Hoi-chang did not spend much because he cannot get much financial help, he gets much more than what he spent, enough to be seed money for a real conservative party of his.

It turns out that the comment above is slightly wrong. The candidate with more than 15% support gets all his campaign expense and advance deposit(a candidate should give $500K to the election commission) back. He will not be strained financially. Besides, 15% support could be significant enough to launch a new party.

[AmericanInTokyo]

As he, LHC, talked about last night in his concession speech, he has indeed sown the seeds of a new movements. The Communists (in the North), the Socialists (in the South), and the RINOS (now in power in Blue House) will have to contend with this grassroots Conservative movement, like it or not.

[TigerLikesRooster]

He keeps everybody in check. That is his role.
The most important role for him is to save S. Korean right from disastrous rout the S. Korean left is suffering now.

If Lee Myung-bak were to left alone with more than 50% support, he will run amok and ruin the S. Korean right thoroughly, just as Roh Moo-hyun did for the S. Korean left. Lee Hoi-chang will serve as an ready alternative, the faithful right free of corruption and blatant opportunism.

Many conservatives assail him for being a divisive force and a power-hungry old man, but his role has been quite constructive so far.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Thank you for that assessement. That does seem to be the case. We often have to keep even people on the RIGHT, honest.

[AmericanInTokyo]

This graphic will help:

[Tamar1973]

Remember this conversation about BYJ? Uri party type? Well, considering his most recent reading material, you might want to rethink that...I found a photo of him BYJ's reading material reading America at the Crossroads by Francis Fukuyama who is a conservative, although he has left the neo-conservative flock. Hardly Uri Party material, IMO!