We live in an era of ever more rapid news cycles; global culture is spiraling tighter and tighter, and yesterday's South Korean presidential election is already becoming old news as all the commentary spews forth. I don't have many intelligent insights to add; I can't vote in major elections, and I don't really understand Korean politics that well, anyway. I do know that the vote between Lee (the liberal) and Yoon (the conservative) was super close; my boss tells me it came down to 0.8%. I saw the 47%-to-48% stat earlier this morning. The boss also said that a recorded phone call of Lee talking to an in-law came out, and in this phone call, Lee was pretty verbally abusive. While I think that means the man is only human (I've personally heard Korean CEOs ranting profanely, so I know how it is with top dogs here), the call was apparently a scandal because of its Confucian implications: Lee wasn't respecting family ties. My boss says Lee ended up apologizing, but I gather the call's release did the damage it was supposed to, and it could be for that reason, among others, that Lee ended up losing.
My only other comment has to do with Ahn Cheol-soo, the conservative rival to Yoon who had long flirted with joining Yoon's campaign, then finally joined it in the eleventh hour. A lot of people are muttering about "back-room deals" and "an offer he couldn't refuse." Could Ahn end up as prime minister under Yoon? Anything's possible. Anyway, I had thought that Ahn's sudden move to join Yoon's campaign was stupidity at its finest, but it turns out that Ahn had gambled and won. Good for him, I guess; now, the real work begins. Good fucking luck.
Well, I guess that shows you how much I know. Because Ahn switched over so late, I figured it wouldn't really help Yoon that much--especially since all the ballots had already been printed and absentee voting had already been carried out. I have to wonder how many people ended up wasting their vote on Ahn. And I happen to know at least one person who was so disgusted with Ahn's antics that they actually jumped ship and voted for Lee (despite otherwise being relatively conservative).
ReplyDeleteI also thought that the shamanism scandal would hurt Ahn more than it did. The most negative views of shamanism in Korea can be found among Christians, and the more opposed they are to shamanism, the more conservative they tend to be. That probably explains (at least in part) why the margin was so close, but I honestly thought it would be enough to swing the election to Lee.
This is why I am not a political pundit.
For what it's worth, I put my ignorance on full display for all to see. The world of Korean politics is inscrutable to me.
ReplyDeleteI'm clueless as well. A Korean Facebook friend (living in Scotland) let loose a rant about how bad she felt that Lee lost. In all the time I've known her I never heard her mention politics, but she's feeling like Korea is now doomed somehow.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see what changes, if any, occur under "conservative" leadership. In my narrow world view, someone willing to not take BS from North Korea is a good thing.