Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 19 December 2007.Schedule of 17th presidential election (Hangul 2002 format) The elections were won by Lee Myung-bak of the Grand National Party, returning conservatives to the Blue House for the first time in ten years. Lee defeated Grand Unified Democratic New Party nominee Chung Dong-young and independent Lee Hoi-chang by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, the largest since direct elections were reintroduced in 1987.Lee Myung-bak Elected President by a Landslide , The Chosun Ilbo, December 19, 2007. Retrieved on December 20, 2007. It also marked the first time a president-elect in Korea was under investigation by a prosecutor.President-Elect Faces Probe, The Korea Times, December 19, 2007. Retrieved December 20, 2007. Voter turnout was 63%, an all-time low according to the National Election Commission.
Background
On 28 February 2007 the official census was published, identifying the number of eligible voters, with the electoral rolls compiled and published between 21 and 26 November, before being finalised on 12 December. Pre-registration of candidates began on 23 April, with 25–26 November as the dates to officially register.Timeline (detailed) of 2007 presidential election (Korean), the NEC, 2007
Candidates The elections were a three-way race between the ruling Grand Unified Democratic New Party's Chung Dong-young, opposition Grand National Party's Lee Myung-bak, and conservative independent Lee Hoi-chang. Also in the race but polling less than 10% were former Yuhan Kimberly CEO Moon Kook-hyun and congressman Kwon Young-ghil from Ulsan.
Grand Unified Democratic New primaries
A total of nine candidates ran to be the Grand Unified Democratic New Party presidential candidate; Chung Dong-young, former National Assemblyman from North Jeolla Sohn Hak-kyu, former governor of Gyeonggi Lee Hae-chan, National Assemblyman from Seoul Rhyu Si-min, National Assemblyman from Gyeonggi Han Myeong-sook, National Assemblywoman for PR Shin Ki-nam, National Assemblyman from Seoul Chun Jung-bae, former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae, National Assemblyman from Seoul Kim Doo-kwan, former Minister of Interior
An opinion poll was conducted on 2,400 eligible voters and 10,000 of those who signed up to vote in the primaries between 3 and 5 September; only the top five candidates were allowed to advance to the full primary elections.
CandidateElectors%Non-Members%Total%Sohn Hak-kyu2,20723.42,46026.14,66724.8Chung Dong-young 2,33924.82,27424.14,61324.5Lee Hae-chan 1,33914.21,37014.52,70914.4Rhyu Si-min1,05711.28569.11,91310.1Han Myeong-sook7618.11,01510.81,7769.4Others1,72518.31,45315.43,17816.9Total9,4281009,42810018,856100Source:
Despite qualifying for the full primary vote, Han Myeong-sook withdrew her bid for nomination and endorsed Lee Hae-chan before the primary races began. The primary races counted for 90% of the final result and the opinion poll 10%.
DatesRacesChungSohnLeeRhyuTotalVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes%15 SeptemberJeju3,00332.82,75430.11,86620.41,52816.79,151Ulsan2,26234.81,33520.51,54823.81,36220.96,50716 SeptemberGangwon2,31131.12,35931.82,75137.1––7,421North Chungcheong6,33452.72,92024.32,76023.0––12,01417 SeptemberGwangju10,84147.67,94834.94,00717.6––22,796South Jeolla15,22446.111,95836.25,81917.6––33,00130 SeptemberBusan6,68937.64,50825.36,61437.1––17,811South Gyeongsang4,46134.84,06931.84,27633.4––12,8069 OctoberMobile-17,00433.57,64936.56,28530.0––20,93811 OctoberMobile-219,28834.621,35938.415,03527.0––55,68210–12 OctoberOpinion Poll21,85044.117,52535.310,21620.6––49,59113-14 OctoberMobile-335,84635.541,02340.723,96423.8––100,83314 OctoberNorth Jeolla38,07881.36,38713.62,3675.1––46,832Daejeon1,76633.91,46428.11,97437.9––5,204South Chungcheong2,18232.61,61624.12,89543.3––6,693Daegu1,10825.71,53035.51,67738.9––4,315North Gyeongsang1,59833.42,01742.11,17424.5––4,789Gyeonggi13,02540.213,58742.05,76717.8––32,379Incheon3,11741.03,16041.51,33117.5––7,608Seoul20,99749.513,63132.17,80218.4––42,430Total216,98443.8168,79934.0110,12822.2––495,911
At the UNDP National Convention, held on October 15, 2007, Chung was officially named the party's presidential nominee.
Grand National primaries Five candidates contested the primaries of the Grand National Party:Asaba, Yūki. "한국에서의 대선후보선출과 정당정치: 제17대 대선을 중심으로." Yamaguchi Prefectural University, 2007, pp. 131–131. Lee Myung-bak, former Mayor of Seoul Park Geun-hye, National Assemblywoman from Daegu Won Hee-ryong, National Assemblyman from Seoul Hong Joon-pyo, National Assemblyman from Seoul Go Jin-hwa, National Assemblyman from Seoul
Former Gyeonggi Governor Sohn Hak-kyu sought to participate, but he later decided to instead run for the UNDP nomination, and failed.
The GNP primary consisted of opinion polling (weighted 20%) and popular vote by pre-registered electors (weighted 80%). The poll and the voting were all conducted on 19 August and the results were announced at the National Convention on 20 August, naming Lee Myung-bak as the official nominee. Because Lee won the race with a slight margin, there was controversy regarding the method primary election used (opinion poll). However, Park Geun-hye conceded her loss to Lee. Park ran again in 2012 and won the primary.
RacesLeeParkWonHongTotalVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Seoul16,19058.011,11339.83301.22711.027,904Incheon3,08949.13,13549.9360.6250.46,285Gyeonggi12,77950.012,54349.11610.6880.325,571Gangwon1,86643.02,43656.2220.5140.34,338North Chungcheong1,82343.32,34355.7260.6160.44,208South Chungcheong2,27141.33,17957.8260.5240.45,500Daejeon1,27234.12,40464.4401.1180.53,734North Jeolla2,14155.31,58140.81112.9391.03,872South Jeolla2,69257.01,85239.21332.8481.04,725Gwangju1,33857.685336.81044.5261.12,321North Gyeongsang4,45546.35,11153.1310.3240.29,621South Gyeongsang4,49848.14,74850.8760.8300.39,352Daegu2,30531.15,07268.4190.3220.37,418Busan5,27347.25,78951.8600.5470.411,169Ulsan1,51747.71,63751.4180.6110.33,183Jeju70741.885250.41267.470.41,692Opinion poll16,86851.513,98442.71,0793.37932.432,724Total81,08449.678,63248.12,3981.51,5030.9163,617
Lee Hoi-chang 1997 and 2002 presidential candidate for GNP, Lee Hoi-chang had announced his candidacy on 7 November 2007 as an independent, not joining GNP primary.
Democratic Labor primary The primary election of the Democratic Labour Party involved two types of voting; Online voting: All members of this party can log on to the official homepage to cast their vote. Confirmation process by cell phone is needed. Off-line voting: There are 227 voting stations around the nation. Voters can cast their vote from 09:00 to 22:00 The total number of party members that were eligible to cast a vote was 50,117.First round of results from 3 division will be the dividing point (Korean), The Hankyoreh. Retrieved on August 22, 2007.
Kwon Young-ghil, National Assemblyman from South Gyeongsang Sim Sang-jung, National Assemblywoman as Proportional Representative Roh Hoe-chan, National Assemblyman as Proportional Representative
No candidate received a majority of the votes, so a second round of the presidential primary was scheduled from 10 to 15 September.Kwon Young-ghil hasn't succeed to gain more than 50% of the vote (Korean), Ohmynews. Retrieved on 9 September 2007.
CandidateFirst roundSecond roundVotes%Votes%Kwon Young-ghil19,05349.419,10952.7Sim Sang-jung10,06426.117,12247.3Roh Hoe-chan9,47824.6Total38,59510036,231100Source: Media Today, Hani
First round results by province DatesRacesKwonSimRohTotalAug. 24Jeju23437.3%19631.3%19731.4%627Aug. 25South Jeolla91259.8%29119.1%32121.1%1,524Gwangju83760.3%21715.6%33424.1%1,388Aug. 26North Gyeongsang58632.3%64835.7%58032.0%1,814Daegu44938.4%34229.3%37732.3%1,168Aug. 29South Chungcheong61837.7%48229.4%54032.4%1,640Daejeon30739.7%27034.9%19625.4%773Sep. 1North Jeolla1,42956.9%42216.8%66026.3%2,511Sep. 2South Gyeongsang2,68662.9%91121.3%67715.8%4,274Sep. 3Busan1,07648.9%53224.2%59226.9%2,200Sep. 5Ulsan1,40759.8%59925.5%34714.7%2,353Sep. 7North Chungcheong33228.8%49743.1%32328.0%1,152Sep. 8Gangwon49838.2%39230.1%41431.871,304Sep. 9Gyeonggi3,51857.0%1,41522.9%1,24220.1%6,175Incheon1,57856.4%66923.9%55319.75%2,800Seoul2,57837.5%2,17231.6%2,12230.9%6,872Abroad840.0%945.0%315.0%20Total19,05349.4%10,06426.1%9,47824.6%38,595
Creative Korea primary Moon Kook-hyun (), former CEO of Yuhan Kimberly (Kimberly-Clark's company in Korea), was elected as the official presidential candidate of the party on 4 November 2007, through mobile voting amongst party members.
ChoiceVotes%For Moon8,88495.0Against4685.0Total9,352100Source: Polinews
Exit polls An exit poll was announced at 18:00 on election day, at which point voting had finished. It predicted Lee Myung-bak had won an absolute majority.Lee Myung-bak cruises to landslide victory The Korea Herald, 17 December 2007
CandidatePredictionEstimated %Lee Myung-bakWinner50.3Chung Dong-young2nd26.0Lee Hoi-chang3rd13.5
Results
By province and city Province/City Lee Myung-bak Chung Dong-young Lee Hoi-chang Moon Kook-hyun Kwon Young-ghil Lee In-je Huh Kyung-young Geum Min Chung Kun-mo Chun Kwan Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Seoul2,689,16253.241,237,81224.50596,22611.80358,7817.10116,3442.3023,2140.4622,4050.443,5010.073,0130.069110.02Busan1,018,71557.91236,70813.46346,31919.6994,2855.3648,9012.784,5990.267,3510.421,1980.077700.044060.02Daegu876,71969.3875,9326.01228,19918.0650,5144.0025,7772.041,8470.153,3750.277270.063670.032210.02Incheon593,28349.22286,56523.77183,05715.1984,8147.0442,0693.497,6120.635,7690.481,0680.097970.073230.03Gwangju56,8758.60527,58879.7522,5203.4031,5244.7713,5972.067,1181.081,5470.232890.043980.06960.01Daejeon246,00836.29159,70023.56195,95728.9048,1437.1017,2072.547,2231.072,3560.356830.104670.072040.03Ulsan279,89153.9870,73613.6490,90517.5328,6055.5243,6078.411,8840.362,0590.404670.092710.051210.02Gyeonggi2,603,44351.891,181,93623.56670,74213.37354,4927.07144,8302.8930,5130.6123,5540.473,2070.063,3780.071,3120.03Gangwon376,00451.97136,66818.89127,10217.5742,5525.8828,1293.896,0850.845,0630.708490.126150.094360.06North Chungcheong289,49941.59165,63723.80162,75023.3839,8845.7325,2853.637,9651.143,4350.497590.115610.083210.05South Chungcheong313,69334.26192,99921.08304,25933.2343,3834.7432,1323.5122,5922.473,8140.421,1310.129340.105680.06North Jeolla86,1499.04777,23681.6034,6303.6426,5732.7918,1391.906,5500.691,7770.195380.065900.062700.03South Jeolla88,8349.23757,30978.6534,7903.6131,2893.2523,1782.4123,0742.402,1790.237430.089380.105170.05North Gyeongsang1,033,95772.5996,8226.80195,52613.7347,3453.3239,3272.763,8230.274,6960.331,4580.108190.066990.05South Gyeongsang843,66255.02189,46312.36329,48621.4973,8934.8282,6455.394,9350.326,0630.401,2610.081,3100.096120.04Jeju96,49538.6781,57032.6937,49515.0319,4217.7810,9544.391,6740.671,2730.513440.141520.061440.06 Total11,492,38948.67 6,174,681 26.15 3,559,963 15.08 1,375,498 5.83 712,121 3.02 160,708 0.68 96,756 0.41 18,223 0.08 15,380 0.07 7,161 0.03 Source: National Election Commission Other information On April 7, 2011, a National Intelligence Service agent was guilty of investigating Lee Myung-bak's secret real estate-related information before the election.
According to leaked diplomatic cables, Yoo Chong-ha (), the former co-chairman of Lee Myung-bak's presidential election campaign, requested to then American ambassador to South Korea, Alexander Vershbow, to delay the extraction of the main individual of the BBK embezzlement scandal, Christopher Kim (Kim Kyung-joon), to Korea on the request to prevent spreading controversies related to Lee Myung-bak's involvement in the BBK embezzlement scandal during the election season.
References
External links
Official Homepage of the National Election Commission* Official list of candidates Chosun Ilbo, 27 November 2007 Candidate profiles The Korea Times, 9 December 2007 Korea Society Podcast: 24 Hours After South Korea's Presidential Election: An Assessment