CON GÁI CỦA PARK CHUNG HEE LÀ NỮ TỔNG THỐNG ĐẦU TIÊN CỦA NAM HÀN.
Park Geun-hye likely winner in South Korean presidential poll
- The Australian
- December 20, 2012
The official count, with 50 per cent of votes tallied, put Ms Park ahead with almost 8 million votes to Mr Moon’s 7.25 million late last night, but it was expected to be some hours before an official winner was declared.
Local media reported large crowds at polling stations and voter turnout was high during the day. That was expected to favour Mr Moon because he holds sway among younger voters and they have traditionally voted in lower numbers than the older generation.
But all the momentum seemed to be going the way of Ms Park last night and she was expected to give a speech to supporters close to midnight Korean time.
The race between Ms Park, 60, the daughter of late dictator Park Chung-hee, and Mr Moon, who was once arrested protesting against his rule, had been tight ever since software entrepreneur Ahn Cheol-soo pulled out.
Ms Ahn, who had no political experience but boasted strong support among voters sick of South Korea’s brand of crony capitalism, quit the race and endorsed Mr Moon to avoid splitting the Left and youth votes, thereby handing victory to Ms Park.
Presidents in South Korea are elected for a fixed five-year term and are limited to a single term.
The incumbent, who will replace Lee Myung-bak, will have a packed agenda on the domestic front including economic reform, tackling corruption and the market power of the country’s major conglomerates, and boosting gender equality in what remains a male-dominated society in many respects.
On the foreign affairs front, the winner will have to work out how to resume engagement with North Korea, how to balance ties with the US - Seoul’s key ally - and China, as well as how to tackle territorial and historical disputes with Japan.
The election has been fought mostly on domestic terms with North Korea attracting little genuine attention despite its best efforts to thrust itself into the spotlight with a missile launch.
Both candidates have repudiated Mr Lee’s hardline stance towards Pyongyang, which failed to stem the aggression and nuclear ambitions of South Korea’s northern neighbor.
But beyond this broad move back to engagement, there are significant differences between the candidates with Mr Moon pledging to start dialogue as soon as possible.
Ms Park, on the other hand, has linked talks with North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un to progress on denuclearisation and has warned against holding talks for the sake of talking.
The situation north of the border under the 29-year-old leader is quite fluid and, as always, negotiations with the regime will require both a steady hand and a delicate touch.
It’s quite likely that the next five years will decide whether North Korea embraces some limited reform and openness or sinks further into bellicose isolation, so the winner will perhaps have the opportunity to help make history.