Campaign strategists push for a change in the name of political parties when facing an extremely unfavorable campaign landscape, as they believe that unless they do otherwise there will be no chance of winning elections.

Analysts say both ruling and opposition parties consider the card, which usually comes with a hundreds of millions of won price tag depending on the size of the party, simply because it has proven to be effective before.

Choi Young-jin, a professor of politics at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, said Friday that with the political maneuvering parties target their traditional supporters who withhold their support after they are disappointed by their preferred party.

Campaign strategists called these decades-long supporters “domestic rabbits” in comparison to “wild rabbits” referring to a new group of supporters.

“For example, conservative voters could withdraw their support for the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) as they are frustrated. But this doesn’t mean that they will look to liberal parties as an alternative in elections,” he said.

“These voters tend to remain undecided, instead of shifting their support to other parties. The conservative party seeks a facelift, including changing its name, logo and symbol to bring their old supporters back.”

The political scientist made the remarks regarding the GNP’s latest decision to change its name to appeal to the hearts and minds of voters as the National Assembly elections near. The ruling party will announce a new name with a brand-new logo Monday.

The GNP has been called such since November 1997, a month before the presidential election took place. The party had changed its name twice before ― the New Korea Party switched its name into the GNP in that year following the suggestion of Cho Soon, an economist and former mayor of Seoul.

The party was previously called the Democratic Justice Party (DJP) (1981-1990) and then the Democratic Liberty Party (DLP) (1990-1995).   [Korea Times]

Anybody have any suggestions if the Democrats or Republicans wanted to change their names?

Rep. Koh Seung-duk of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) raised fresh allegations Monday that many other party members might have been bribed in exchange for votes during a 2008 party leadership race.

“According to my staff member, a man who handed over the envelope had many similar yellow envelopes inside a shopping bag. I think he could have been delivering them to other lawmakers,” said Koh during a press conference at the National Assembly, Monday.

The first-term-lawmaker told the prosecution Sunday that Park Hee-tae, former GNP chairman and current National Assembly speaker, offered him 3 million won ($2,600) in exchange for his vote in the party’s chairmanship election, which he returned right away.

Rep. Koh said during the press conference that a female staff member in his office received a yellow envelope one or two days before the party convention, which had the cash and a simple business card with Park’s name written on it.

He also dismissed rumors that Kim Hyo-jae, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, had delivered the envelope.

Park, who is now staying in Japan as part of an official Asia trip, denied the allegation.

The lawmaker’s claim indicates further involvement of party lawmakers in the bribery case and will likely deal a devastating blow to the ruling party already staggering from the Oct. 26 by-election defeat and a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against the National Election Commission website by a party aide.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link but is $2,600 the going rate to buy a Korean politicians vote?

Rep. Kim Seon-dong of South Korea's progressive minor opposition Democratic Labor Party explodes tear gas in front of the speaker's chair to block the National Assembly's Vice Speaker Chung Eui-hwa from pushing for the procedure to handle a pending bill on ratification of a Korea-U.S. free trade agreement on Nov. 22, 2011. Later in the day, the ruling Grand National Party alone forced the bill through a vote, with the speaker ordering security guards to prevent opposition lawmakers from physically blocking the voting procedure. Opposition parties, including the main opposition Democratic Party, have objected strongly to the ratification, insisting the agreement's investor-state dispute (ISD) settlement clause unfairly favors the United States. The U.S. Congress ratified the agreement early last month. This is a capture from video footage of Yonhap News Television. (Yonhap)

The candidate for president next December is going to have to adopt a softer line toward North Korea – and certainly not speak in praise of the US alliance or American bases.

Indeed, the big loser in the election may not have been Na Kyung-won, who will go back to her job as a member of the National Assembly, but Park Keun-hye, the daughter of the long-ruling Park Chung-hee, assassinated in 1979 by his intelligence chief.

She’s been a leading prospect to run as a conservative next year as successor to Lee, who can’t succeed himself under the 1987 “democracy constitution”, but she lost points by speaking out for Na.

As for Park Won-soon, he had the support of Ahn Cheol-soo, an information technology entrepreneur who is also seen as a presidential prospect – and will be playing upon anti-American sentiments along with the need for social and economic reform.

“There are major pent-up pressures that have mad it possible for an independent, technically non-politician to be elected to the second most important position in South Korea,” said Tom Coyner. “The Mad Cow disease demonstrations essentially had nothing to do with public health. Rather, the protests were a way for the disaffected young masses to make repeatedly clear over several weeks to the Korean establishment that they can take over the streets.”

In that spirit, they got their hero elected mayor – and may also win the next presidential election with an agenda that calls for cozying up to North Korea and reducing the American troop presence whatever assurances Panetta gave the Koreans while he was here.   [Asia Times]

By the way here is a little background on Seoul’s new mayor:

If the Seoul mayoral election was about the economy, however, leftist demands for “change” always come down to the American relationship. Park, as on-time leader of the gadfly People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, has made a career of playing on such sentiments, upsetting the ruling establishment with diatribes on everything the conservatives hold dear.

He has, for instance, called for repeal of the National Security Law that historically gave authorities carte blanche to go after North Korean saboteurs and spies along with radical malcontents, and did not hesitate to blame the government for having “provoked” North Korea into sinking the navy corvette the Cheonan in March of last year and then shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea with a total loss of 50 lives.

Perhaps Park’s gravest offence, however, is that he also helped to organize the massive demonstrations in the summer and early autumn of 2008 against the government’s lifting the ban on American beef for fear of “Mad Cow” disease.

So basically there is an anti-US, North Korea sympathizer who is willing to make excuses for mass murder (Choenan sinking) that is more then happy to lie to score political points (mad cow riots) that is in charge of Seoul now.   You can read more about his group People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy at this link that has long been a key player in the anti-US movement in South Korea.

Like I said before South Korea seems like it is about to go through its own hope and change phase that could lead to some changes in the US-ROK relationship.  The ratification of the US-ROK FTA is in serious trouble if the perception of it with the Korean public becomes one of it benefiting the rich at the expense of Korean jobs.  It is safe to say that this is the argument the Korean left will make as the FTA tries to be ratified in the Korean parliament.  As far as USFK the Korean left taking over may actually be beneficial in creating momentum to make the Yongsan Garrison move finally happen.  As far as North Korea I’m sure the aid and goodies to Kim Jong-il will increase just like it did under Roh Moo-hyun.  What I don’t get about the Korean left is that they always complain about human rights and tax payer dollars spent on the rich at the expense of the Korean working man.  However, when they in charge they are more then happy to ship billions to Kim Jong-il arguably the greatest human rights violator in the world and subsidize his regime with taxpayer dollars that could go to benefit Korean workers instead.

The election is still a year a way and a lot can change by then, but it will be interesting to see what happens.

People in their 20s, 30s and 40s were united in Seoul on Wednesday in voting for pan-opposition mayoral candidate Park Won-soon. What brought together two generations was anxiety over their futures. Song Ho-keun, a professor of sociology at Seoul National University, said, “The incumbent administration was popular with young Koreans when it was launched, but it failed to present them with hope for a future and only compounded their anxieties.”

Kum Tae-sup (44), a lawyer who was an active member of Park’s street campaign, said, “Many young people voted for [President] Lee Myung-bak in 2007, hoping he would be able to create a world where people had a chance if they worked hard, but he not only failed to live up to his promises, but supported only big business and the rich, while refusing to listen to people’s concerns. That’s how voters in their 20s to 40s feel.”

A study by the East Asia Institute early this year of political attitudes across different age groups showed that 65.4 percent in their 20s, 79.7 percent in their 30s and 64.6 percent in their 40s are anxious about the future. Those figures mirror voter turnout in support of Park, with 69.3 percent in their 20s, 75.8 percent in their 30s and 66.8 percent in their 40s.

Twenty-somethings are grappling with record university tuition fees and an extremely tough job market, and many ask themselves whether they will ever be able to earn a stable income. People in their 30s live in fear of being laid off as they try to survive in a highly competitive society, saddled with loans, mortgage payments and skyrocketing home leases. And those in their 40s, once considered the group that enjoys the most stability, now live in fear of being forced to accept early retirement packages at work, soaring educational costs for their children and rising pressure to save more for their old age.

In 2007, these people voted for Lee, the “business president,” because he embodied the rags-to-riches story.

But the moment the Lee administration took office, it became seen as representing the rich, and it has been unable to shed that image. The ruling Grand National Party failed to live up to its pledges to lower soaring university tuitions and real estate prices, causing younger voters to turn their backs on it.   [Chosun Ilbo]

I think once Park Won-soon takes office as well as if the opposition defeats the GNP in next year’s presidential election that they will find it harder to do everything they said they would do as candidates.  The Marmot’s Hole has some good coverage of the Seoul Mayoral election that I recommend reading here and here.

The prosecution has launched a probe into President Lee Myung-bak’s controversial purchase of land in southern Seoul to build his retirement residence.

The main opposition Democratic Party on Wednesday filed a complaint with the prosecution, accusing Presidential Chief of Staff Yim Tae-hee, the president’s son Si-hyung, and three others involved of negligence and violation of real estate transaction laws.

The party claimed that the President’s son purchased the lot in Naegok-dong for one-point-12 billion won, while the Presidential Office bought part of the lot under joint-ownership as well as other lands nearby at a higher rate at a total price of four-point-28 billion won. The opposition party claims that the government wasted budget as it tried to compensate the initial owner of the lots for selling the land at a lower rate to President Lee’s son.  [KBS Global]

From what I have read President Lee had his son purchase the property in order to avoid a massive rise in property values in the area if people new the President was moving to the neighborhood.  This caused accusations of Lee trying to avoid the inheritance tax which he says isn’t true because he was going to have the land transferred to his name once he left office.  The whole thing seems pretty petty to me, but maybe I am wrong.

Knowledge Economy Minister Choi Joong-kyung called a press conference yesterday to apologize for the massive nationwide blackouts last week, promising a set of government countermeasures to prevent a recurrence.

But Choi defied expectations that he would resign to take responsibility. Some Blue House officials said they believe he will step down after cleaning up the technical and political mess left in the wake of the blackouts.

“As head of the ministry in charge, I am taking responsibility indefinitely at this time,” Choi said at a televised conference.

“Doing my best to come up with measures to prevent a recurrence and finding out what went wrong, and not just clinging to my seat, is what I think is the proper thing for me to do as a public servant.”

The Thursday-afternoon blackouts affected the country on an unprecedented scale, pulling the plugs on homes of more than 1.62 million families for around five hours, providing fresh antigovernment ammunition for the opposition ahead of next year’s general and presidential elections.

“Minister Choi delivered the same remarks to the presidential chief of staff, Yim Tae-hee, and the Blue House regards it as an intention to resign,” said a high-ranking official of the presidential office.

Another senior Blue House official said Choi will step down after dealing with the aftermath of the blackouts, as an agriculture minister did earlier this year.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

In the US government very rarely is anyone held accountable.  For example does anyone think the Secretary of Energy or White House will be held accountable for the Solyndra Scandal?

The spectacular ascent of Ahn Cheol-soo, a doctor-turned software mogul, over Korea’s political landscape has shown a sign of sagging, at least for now, with a new JoongAng Ilbo poll forecasting that Park Geun-hye would edge him out by 0.3 percentage points in a two-way competition for the next presidency.

In two polls conducted by local research groups Tuesday, the day Ahn decided not to run for Seoul Mayor, Ahn led the former Grand National Party chairwoman by 2.6 percentage points and 1.9 percentage points respectively, the first time Park had been knocked out of her frontrunner status for the presidential race since 2008.

But political analysts said things could change after the Chuseok holiday, during which the public may share their views with their families and clarify their political opinions.

The JoongAng Ilbo conducted a simulated presidential election poll on 1,000 adults across the country on Thursday, in which Park garnered the backing of 46.6 percent of the respondents, compared with 46.3 percent for Ahn, on the assumption that the election was a two-way race. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

In a hypothetical competition among three candidates including opposition Democratic Party chairman Sohn Hak-kyu, Park earned 43.6 percent of the votes as opposed to Ahn’s 38.3 percent and Sohn’s 13.9 percent.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

This all kind of reminds me of another political outsider who came out of nowhere to win the Korean Presidency Roh Moo-hyun in 2002 and we all know how well that worked out.  It will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the coming months.

President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday replaced Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, who was singled out by politicians as responsible for strained ties with North Korea. But Cheong Wa Dae stressed that its North Korea policy remains unchanged. Yu Woo-ik, who previously served as Lee’s chief of staff and ambassador to China, will succeed Hyun.

◆ Gov’t Denies Policy Change

A senior Cheong Wa Dae official said, “We worried that the replacement could send the wrong signal” that policies toward North Korea may change. “That is why we appointed Hyun presidential special advisor on reunification affairs.”

The government feels that any change in North Korea policy must be preceded by an apology from Pyongyang for the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island last year. South Korea recently delivered W5 billion (US$1=W1,073) worth of disaster relief goods to North Korea and is increasing humanitarian assistance for infants and children in the North, but Seoul maintains that no fundamental improvements in inter-Korean relations can be made unless the North changes its ways.

“Even before Hyun was replaced, we already resumed humanitarian assistance for North Korea and engaged in contact behind the scenes, so communication was not entirely cut off,” said Dong Young-seung of the Samsung Economic Research Institute. “A new minister does not mean a major shift in North Korea policy.”  [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but I fail to see what a inter-Korean summit would achieve other than a good photo op?

Opposition lawmakers yesterday jointly sponsored a resolution to recommend the dismissal of Unification Minister Hyun In-taek and submitted it to the National Assembly.

The Democratic, Democratic Labor, Creative Korea and New Progressive (New Jinbo) parties yesterday said in the resolution that Hyun should be replaced because of his poor performance in the job. Two Liberty Forward Party lawmakers and an independent lawmaker joined the 96 liberal lawmakers, achieving a quorum to propose the resolution.

“After he took office in February 2009, Hyun has failed to arrange a single ministerial meeting with North Korea, showing his incompetence in inter-Korean talks,” the resolution said. “He also did not authorize the National Assembly’s committee on inter-Korean relations to visit the Kaesong Industrial Complex, although it was agreed to by the ruling and opposition parties.”

The four opposition parties are to vote on the resolution tomorrow at the main session. The resolution requires a majority vote to pass, but the president has the power to reject it.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.