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| To the victor: Lee Myung Bak (c.), celebrated his victory on Wednesday evening in South Korea’s presidential race. Junji Kurokawa/AP |
South Korea shifts right with new president Lee Myung Bak
The election Wednesday of former Hyundai executive may signal a review of South Korea's policy toward the North.
By Donald Kirk | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the December 20, 2007 edition
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Seoul, South Korea - The conservative former mayor of Seoul roared to an easy victory in South Korea's presidential election Wednesday in what is widely viewed as a referendum for economic reform and an end to the left-leaning leadership of the past decade.
With Lee Myung Bak receiving nearly as many votes as all 10 other candidates combined, analysts see his triumph as a return to traditional conservative values and repudiation of the liberal policies of the outgoing president, Roh Moo Hyun, and Mr. Roh's predecessor, Kim Dae Jung, who forged the country's reconciliation with North Korea.
"This will be good for the economy," says Huh Chan Guk, director of economic research at the Korea Economic Research Institute.
The institute is affiliated with the Federation of Korean Industries, which is made up of the leaders of the conglomerates,
known as chaebol, that dominate the economy. "He's a practical person. He'll be different from his predecessors. He will deal with issues
and come up with workable solutions."
That endorsement helps explain why Mr. Lee, on his 66th birthday, could win by a lopsided margin over the pro-government candidate, Chung Dong Young, as well as the archconservative independent Lee Hoi Chang, the losing candidate of M.B. Lee's Grand National Party in the last two presidential elections, and eight other minor candidates.
Lee rose to the chairmanship of Hyundai Engineering and Construction at age 35 in the company's heyday as the center of the mighty Hyundai empire. He subsequently entered politics and won widespread respect for his ability to get things done as mayor of Seoul from 2002 to 2006. Analysts expect Lee to roll back regulations and foster growth for Korea's chaebol – some of whose top executives have been convicted in corruption scandals in recent years.
That's in accord with his campaign slogan, "747," the numbers standing for his pledge to adopt policies that he says will raise the annual increase in the gross national product from 4 percent to 7 percent, the annual per capita income from nearly $20,000 to $40,000 a year, and the size of the Korean economy from the world's 11th or 12th to seventh largest.
Besides revitalizing an economy seen as stagnant, Lee also promises to adopt a more critical view of the government's policy of reconciliation with North Korea. He has said he wants to "review" his predecessors' "Sunshine Policy" of diplomatic and economic engagement with the North. Lee has told voters that he will demand "reciprocity" from North Korea before the government follows through on pledges to provide vast amounts of aid. At the least, he has said, North Korea should give up its nuclear weapons program first.
Although Lee is not expected to undo the policy of reconciliation with North Korea, says Kim Eui Young, dean of international affairs at Kyunghee University in Seoul, "he's different from President Roh." Professor Kim sees President-elect Lee as "a little more realistic than idealistic."
Lee's harder line on North Korea is also likely to improve frayed ties with the US, whose position during two years of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program has shifted to accommodate the current South Korean government's reconciliation efforts with the North.
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