After forty years of giving speeches, kissing babies, shaking hands, surviving assassination attempts, kidnapping, arrests and death sentences, Kim Dae Jung (DJ) has finally achieved his life-long goal; transforming himself from pesky opposition leader to President-elect.
In a seemingly endless campaign of mudslinging, taking place during a near economic collapse, DJ, of the National Congress for New Politics, barely surpassed Lee Hoi Chang, of the Grand National Party in the closest election in Korea's short democratic history. Vote counting continued through the early morning before Lee conceded victory to DJ, who becomes the first opposition leader to assume the presidency. The election was marked by immense regional differences but Seoul and Kyungi Province may have proven the difference as DJ won a plurality in that highly populated area. Turnout was about 80% despite predictions of a lower rate, likely because of the economic woes facing the country. Turnout was highest in the Cholla Provinces where DJ won an incredible 95% of the vote. DJ is from Mokpo in South Cholla and never even campaigned there. Lee made a stop in the region during the last week of the campaign, but persuaded few voters. Such regional loyalty is unimaginable in Western democracies.
Observers predicted that the economic crisis would help Lee, as conservative voters would want to keep the ruling party in power in such an emergency situation. Lee used that fear and warned that a vote for Rhee was a vote for Kim DJ. Lee further blamed the economic crisis on the "Three Kims" even though only one Kim, the former leader of his party, ever held the office of the president. He also neglected to mention that he was Prime Minister for half of President Kim's administration. Rhee, in the end, played the spoiler, proving Lee's warnings true. Had he dropped out, Lee would have easily defeated DJ. In the end, the media presented the election as a two-way race, which likely discouraged potential voters from considering him.
The actions of the candidates worsened the economic crisis, costing most of our readers dearly in terms of exchange. The request for IMF assistance brought out the nationalism in all three candidates, including the former internationalist DJ. All three bitterly attacked the bailout as "imperialism" and "colonialism." After all three called for reforming the agreement, the IMF leader requested that the candidates sign a pledge to honor the agreement if elected. All three signed, but DJ still made some comments prompting a continuing panic in the stock market and foreign exchange market.
In the end, Koreans may not be as conservative as international observers believe. Despite a crisis, they decided to get rid of a party that has ruled since 1961. Lee failed to convince voters that he was dedicated to reforming the system that he was a part of for years. On the other hand, this was not a revolutionary change of power. DJ has been a familiar face for 40 years. There is likely to be change in the way politics and business interact, but most of the change will be due to international pressure.
As a final comment, it should be pointed out this is the first election where law enforcement officials or other government officials were not accused of interfering with the election. There were very few cases of campaign violations, most of them dealing with false advertising and mudslinging. News reports indicated there were some minor cases involving efforts to buy votes with watches or other small gifts. These things happen in all democracies. Kim Young Sam was the first civilian president in thirty years. Kim Dae Jung will be the first president from an opposition party. He inherits an incredible mess, which he may not be able to solve alone but Korea is, nevertheless, making progress.