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Viewing cable 07SEOUL112, 2007 ROK PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07SEOUL112 2007-01-12 08:01 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Seoul
VZCZCXYZ0018
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUL #0112/01 0120801
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 120801Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2329
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1869
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1961
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUALSFJ/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J2 SEOUL KOR
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J5 SEOUL KOR
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA SCJS SEOUL KOR
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//OSD/ISA/EAP//
C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000112 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2014 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PIRN KS
SUBJECT: 2007 ROK PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 
 
Classified By: POL M/C Joseph Y. Yun.  Reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY: If the vote for president of South Korea 
were today, Grand National Party (GNP) candidate Seoul Mayor 
Lee Myung-bak, with between 40 and 50 percent support in all 
leading polls, would be the runaway winner with second place 
going to GNP's Park Geun-hye.  The bronze medal would go to 
independent former Prime Minister Goh Kun with a big dropoff 
to a crowded field of other hopefuls that includes former 
Gyeonggi Province Governor Sohn Hak-kyu, former Unification 
Minister Chung Dong-young and many others.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Front-runner Lee Myung-bak: Can He Be Caught? 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (C) Lee Myung-bak, former Hyundai Construction CEO, 
National Assemblyman and Seoul Mayor, is riding high with his 
one-point focus on the economy.  He has pledged to boost 
Korea's economic growth to 7 percent through various economic 
projects.  His signature plan is to build a canal from Busan 
to Seoul to connect the country much as Park Chung-hee did 
with the Busan to Seoul highway, pioneered in the 1960s. 
Lee's support is strongest among Seoul voters due to hugely 
successful term as Seoul Mayor that ended in June 2006. 
During his term, he revitalized central Seoul by uncovering 
Chong Gye stream, building parks and re-organizing the bus 
system.  Lee, whose nickname is "Bulldozer," projects the 
image that he can get things done and lift Korea into a new 
era of prosperity.  According to the December 26-27, 2006 
Hankyoreh-Research Plus poll, driving force was the most 
important qualification sought in the next president in which 
Lee scored the highest.  Lee plans to set-up his official 
campaign camp in early February and go on a regional bus tour 
from mid-January to early February.  In all polls conducted 
by local major newspapers and networks at the end of 2006, at 
least 40% of respondents supported Lee to be president. 
 
3.  (C) The biggest challenge for Lee is to maintain his 
large, early lead, especially as pundits claim that part of 
his high poll results is due to support from previous Roh 
supporters who are disenchanted by the president and the Uri 
party.  Hence, some predict once a decision is made on the 
future of the Uri party and a viable candidate appears, Lee 
will likely lose these votes.  Lee's detractors also point 
out consistently that he must have scandals arising from his 
time as Seoul Mayor and Hyundai CEO that could challenge his 
road to victory.  Lee favors open primaries and is in strong 
position to win the GNP nomination if the primaries are held 
within the coming months. 
 
Park Geun-hye: First Woman President? 
------------------------------------- 
 
4.  (C) Former GNP Chairman Park Geun-hye, daughter of former 
President Park Chung-hee, is running a strong second in most 
polls with her support between 15 and 25 percent.  While 
being the authoritarian president's daughter is a net plus as 
the nation's economic successes in the 1960s and 1970s are 
remembered fondly, being a woman is potentially a weak point. 
 Park Young-june, director of Anguk Forum, Lee Myung-bak's 
think tank and quasi campaign headquarters, partially 
attributes her big drop in the polls after the October 9, 
2006 North Korean nuclear test to her gender.  The reasoning 
of Park Young-june is that Korean voters think that it takes 
a man to stand up to Kim Jong-il's antics.  Others differ. 
Leading election specialist Kang Won-taek told poloff that 
with Park, gender is not a big hindrance to her candidacy 
since she was able to display her qualifications to lead - 
determination and dedication - by immediately resuming her 
public activities after being slashed in the face in May of 
2006, which led Park to an approval rating of 45%.  Kang 
noted Park is thought of as Park Chung-hee's daughter first 
and as a woman second. 
 
5.  (C) Park has assembled an impressive team of former 
ministers and U.S. experts and has started to release well 
thought out economic plans to counter Lee's canal vision. 
Park came in second in all the polls conducted at the end of 
2006 by the press except one where she came in third after 
Goh.  According to several of her close confidants, Park must 
narrow the 10 to 15 percent gap between herself and Lee by 
April to around 7 percent before the official primary season 
begins.  If that is the case, Park has a chance because she 
has strong party support. 
 
Goh Kun: How Much Does Experience Count? 
---------------------------------------- 
 
6.  (C) Former Prime Minister, Seoul Mayor and long time 
functionary Goh Kun is the elder statesman who has received 
broad support in the southwest Jeolla region.  Most experts, 
however, believe he does not have a legitimate chance to 
secure the presidency because of lack of political 
organization and party support.  His strong third place 
standing is attributed mainly to the lack of candidates 
outside the GNP.  Contacts from the GNP and the ruling Uri 
Party alike concede that through a primary, a new, non-Goh, 
anti-GNP candidate will surface.  That said, Goh can not be 
written off, as he has strong regional support and perhaps in 
the case of a split in the ruling Uri Party and/or the 
opposition GNP, he could emerge and win the nomination as the 
compromise candidate - a centrist with a regional base. 
Goh's support has hovered around 20 percent in the past 
months but has dipped recently to as low at 10 percent in 
some polls. 
 
7.  (C) Critics claim Goh has not shown dynamism or 
leadership that would be needed to be an effective president. 
 However the Korean public appears to be yearning for an 
experienced professional as president and Goh Kun has served 
six presidents throughout his political career. 
 
Sohn Hak-kyu: Intellectuals' Favorite 
------------------------------------- 
 
8.  (C) Former Gyeonggi Governor Sohn Hak-kyu has been 
actively campaigning for the presidency since the day he 
stepped out of the governors' office on July 1, 2006.  He has 
been imaginative in his campaigning, completing a 100-day 
tour of the country to learn what people want and has now 
embarked on a second bus tour to promote his policy agenda. 
Still, Sohn does not currently have much broad support.  In 
the December 18 poll, the results indicated 7 percent 
supported Sohn.  While this is higher than Roh Moo-hyun's 
rating in January 2002, the fact that he rated behind Seoul 
professor Chung Un-chan - who has not declared he will run - 
was a telling indicator that Sohn's candidacy is going 
nowhere. 
 
9. (C) Sohn considers himself to be in the center of the 
other two GNP rival candidates, possessing the positive 
qualities of both Lee and Park.  According to his staff, he 
wants to revamp the GNP to have a broader support base, 
including young reformists and those outside the Gyeongsang 
provinces.  His strategy is to capture the center votes, 
targeting white collar 30-40 year olds.  Currently, Sohn's 
camp is working to form a "brand" that voters can associate 
with Sohn much the way Lee has used the canal and Chong kye 
stream to define his campaign.  Economically, Sohn is 
planning to push globalization as the key to economic 
recovery in contrast to Lee's focus on domestic economics. 
 
The Rest of the Candidates 
-------------------------- 
 
10.  (C) Former Unification Minister Chung Dong-young is the 
front runner among the declared Uri Party candidates but the 
3 percent support in the polls tied him with non-declared 
Kang Geum-sil and was well behind Seoul National University 
professor's Chung Un-chan's 8 percent. Chung's dismal 
standing reflects the complete lack of support for the Uri 
Party and President Roh.  Chung, a former TV anchor, will 
launch an Internet campaign January 21 that he hopes will 
mobilize support in the same way Roh Moo-hyun's small core of 
supporters did in 2002.  Chung currently has joined hands 
with another presidential hopeful Uri Chairman Kim Geun-tae 
in an effort to break away from the ruling party. 
 
11.  (C) Second-term GNP lawmaker Won Hee-ryung declared his 
candidacy December 17 to little response.  There is no 
likelihood he will win the nomination, most pundits consider 
his candidacy as an effort to win a second term in the 
National Assembly. 
 
12.  (C) There are several "hail-mary" candidates for the Uri 
Party including SNU Professor of Economics Chung Un-chan, 
former Justice Minister Kang Geum-shil and former Prime 
Minister Lee Su-song.  Uri Party Chairman Kim Geun-tae, Rhyu 
Shi-min, Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, and former Justice 
Minister Chun Jung-bae also figure in as long shots.  Almost 
all Uri hopefuls are working on a "big bang" in August or 
September - through the creation of a new party uniting all 
progressive elements.  This new party, with support from 
NGOs, Uri, Democratic Party, and even some GNP lawmakers, 
could put up a candidate to seriously challenge the GNP 
candidate, according to this vision.  Perhaps.  But for now 
at least, none of these candidates has any public support. 
VERSHBOW