2012 South Korean presidential election
Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 19 December 2012. They were the sixth presidential elections since democratization and the establishment of the Sixth Republic, and were held under a first-past-the-post system, in which there was a single round of voting and the candidate receiving the highest number of votes was elected. Under the South Korean constitution, a president is restricted to a single five-year term in office. The term of the then incumbent president Lee Myung-bak ended on 24 February 2013. According to the Korea Times, 30.7 million people voted with turnout at 75.8%. Park Geun-hye of the Saenuri party was elected the first female South Korean president with 51.6% of the vote opposed to 48.0% for her opponent Moon Jae-in. Park's share of the vote was the highest won by any candidate since the beginning of free and fair direct elections in 1987.
In 2017, following Park's impeachment and removal from office, Moon would go on to succeed her as the 12th President of South Korea following a second, successful bid for the presidency.
Background
was elected President of South Korea in 2007 as the nominee of the conservative Grand National Party after a closely contested primary in which he narrowly defeated Park Geun-hye, and assumed office in February 2008. His victory brought to a close ten years of liberal administration under Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. The Lee Myung-bak government pursued the reduction of government bureaucracy and a laissez-faire economic policy, and came under criticism from the left for political scandals and controversial policies such as the Jeju-do Naval Base and its support of the South Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement, although both were initiated under the previous administration. Despite the fact that he was elected in a landslide victory and received initial approval ratings of 70%, Lee's ratings had declined to below 30% by 2012.At the end of 2011, Park Geun-hye assumed control of the Grand National Party, which was subsequently renamed the Saenuri or New Frontier Party in February 2012. She distanced herself from Lee and led the party towards the center. In legislative elections in April 2012, Park guided the party to an upset victory, returning its majority in the National Assembly. This contributed to an increase in her poll ratings and consolidated her position as frontrunner for the Saenuri nomination.
Opposition to Saenuri is divided primarily between the Democratic United Party and independent supporters of Ahn Cheol-soo, who has emerged as a leading potential candidate despite his ostensible silence on the race. In the DUP, focus initially lay on Sohn Hak-kyu as a potential nominee, but by late 2011 Moon Jae-in, a confidant of former president Roh, had overtaken Sohn in polls. Although the DUP invited Ahn to join the party, only 2.3% of respondents to a poll on 21 April thought that Ahn was best suited to be DUP nominee. The DUP itself has been troubled by the split between pro-Roh members such as Moon Jae-in and the "Honam wing" of former president Kim Dae-jung, represented by Chung Dong-young.
Registered candidates
Ballot numbers for party candidates were given according to the candidate's party seat distribution in the National Assembly. Ballot numbers for independent candidates were determined through a random lottery by the National Election Commission.| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Park Geun-hye | Moon Jae-in | Lee Jung-hee | Park Jong-sun | Kim So-yeon | Kang Ji-won | Kim Soon-ja |
| Saenuri | Democratic United | Unified Progressive | Independent | Independent | Independent | Independent |
Nominations
Democratic United Party
Nominee
Campaign
The 2012 Democratic United Party presidential primary saw an open primary system implemented for the first time. This new open primary introduced "mobile voting"; it was hailed as a "revolution in voting" because people could participate in voting more conveniently. However, controversies persisted during the primary elections, as questions of the legitimacy and trustworthiness of the voting results were raised.The official result was announced on 16 September 2012, at 15:32 KST, naming Moon Jae-in the presidential candidate from the Democratic United Party. After winning the nomination, Moon stated that he would like to join forces with Ahn Cheol-soo.
Candidates
- Moon Jae-in, Member of National Assembly from Busan
- Sohn Hak-kyu, former Governor of Gyeonggi
- Kim Doo-kwan, former Governor of South Gyeongsang
- Chung Sye-kyun, Member of National Assembly from Seoul
- Park Joon-young, Governor of South Jeolla
- Jo Gyeong-tae, Member of National Assembly from Busan
- Kim Jung-kil, former Minister of the Interior
- Kim Yong-hwan, former Member of National Assembly from Gyeonggi
Results
P= Pre-registered electors who voted at Polling booths; M: Pre-registered electors who voted through Mobile devices; D= Party Delegates who voted at the polling boothsMoon Jae-in won the nomination on the first ballot, so no run-off contest was needed.
Saenuri Party
Nominee
Campaign
The first member of the Saenuri Party to officially announce their candidacy was Kim Moon-soo on 22 April. Kim, a former labor activist, stated in his announcement that he would focus on combating regional and socioeconomic divides, emphasized his commitment to a policy of multiculturalism, and argued for a revision in Saenuri's primary system. He stated further that Park Geun-hye's leadership of the party represented only an "ambiguously prevailing trend", and could not be relied upon to reach victory in the elections. Although Kim said that he was "convinced" he could "attract more support than ", he was not widely expected to garner a high level of support. His early announcement was regarded as an attempt to preemptively form an anti-Park faction in the party.Chung Mong-joon, a billionaire and longstanding member of the National Assembly, followed on 29 April. In his announcement, Chung emphasized the need to confront regionalism and factional politics, and stated that he would "write a new history of the Republic of Korea by facilitating experience of managing a business, engaging in diplomacy and creating unity in the nation". He stressed that his task was to "bring together the divided hearts of the people" and that he was concerned that the "country could collapse in its current situation". Like Kim Moon-soo, Chung is expected to be at a disadvantage to Park. Chung previously declared his candidacy in the 2002 presidential elections but later dropped out to endorse Roh Moo-hyun.
The former Mayor of Incheon, Ahn Sang-soo, declared his candidacy on 6 May, emphasizing his economic credentials and stating that he would relieve the burden of debt. Former presidential Chief of Staff Yim Tae-hee followed on 8 May, issuing a call for Park Geun-hye to act as a "kingmaker" that was interpreted as a request for her to step aside. Yim, a moderate, proposed to join hands with independent Ahn Cheol-soo and DUP frontrunner Moon Jae-in in a bid to "demolish outdated politics". On 10 May, five-term lawmaker and former Minister for Government Legislation and Special Affairs Lee Jae-oh announced his bid, promising to reform the constitution and cut his term as president to three years.
The campaign for the Saenuri primaries has been characterized by a dispute between Park Geun-hye, as frontrunner and party leader, and her opponents in the party. She was cited in 2009 as the most influential politician in South Korea, and has outranked other candidates in many polls throughout 2012,. The Hankyoreh, 2 April 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012. though as of early May 2012 she is yet to officially declare her candidacy. Park's opponents have called for Saenuri to adopt an open primary system rather than the present system based on an electoral college and opinion poll results. At the end of April the Democratic United Party suggested a joint discussion on the issue of fully open primaries. Park has been criticized for her taciturn and authoritarian style in leading the party, and Kim Moon-soo described her as overly "secretive". Chung Mong-joon stated that under Park's leadership, "democracy in the party gone missing". Park strengthened her position when her ally Lee Hahn-koo was elected Saenuri's floor leader on 9 May.
During a primary debate on 7 August 2012, primary candidate Kim Tae-ho asked if Park Geun-hye would agree that the May 16 coup by her father was both a coup and a “necessary decision,” regarding Park's previous stance that the overthrow was a “revolution to save the country”. Park confirmed her stance by answering, “I don’t think it’s the place of politicians to be fighting over whether were a ‘coup d’etat’ or a ‘revolution’”. She furthermore commented that “no one can refute that the events themselves did happen, whether you call them a ‘coup’ or a ‘revolution.’” and that “we need to leave that issue” for history to decide. In addition, during another debate on 8 August 2012, the moderator asked Park the minimum hourly rate for a part-time worker as of 2012. Park replied “I think it’s over 5,000 won, isn’t it?,” when the legal minimum wage was 4,580 won. In response, The South Korean Confederation of Trade Unions responded with a statement in which it said, “It is terribly discouraging when a person who wants to become president does not even know the country’s minimum wage, which is a minimal right for survival and the first step toward a welfare state.”
Candidates
- Park Geun-hye, Member of National Assembly as Proportional Representative
- Kim Moon-soo, Governor of Gyeonggi
- Kim Tae-ho, Member of National Assembly from South Gyeongsang
- Yim Tae-hee, former Member of National Assembly from Gyeonggi
- Ahn Sang-soo, former Governor of Incheon
- Chung Mong-joon, Member of National Assembly from Seoul
- Lee Jae-oh, former Minister for Special Affairs
Results
The official result was announced at Saenuri Convention, which took place on 20 August 2012 at 05:40 KST, nominating Park Geun-hye as the presidential candidate for the Saenuri Party.Third parties and independent candidates
Registered
Park Jong-sunA former entrepreneur
Kim So-yeon
Elected to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
Kang Ji-won
Chairman of Korea Manifesto Center
Kim Soon-ja
A Cleaning worker, and former proportional representation candidate of New Progressive Party for 2012 South Korean legislative election
Withdrawn
Lee Jung-heeformer leader of UPP and former assemblywoman
Lee Gun-gae
A former National Assembly Member
Opinion polling
| Poll source | Date | Sample size | Margin | ||
| Poll source | Date | Sample size | Margin | ||
| Poll source | Date | Sample size | Park Saenuri | Moon DUP | Margin |
| JoongAng Ilbo | 19–21 July 2012 | 2,000 | 56.6 | 35.0 | 21.6 |
| OhMyNews/Research View | 16–17 July 2012 | 1,000 | 50.8 | 41.0 | 9.8 |
| Realmeter | 29 May – 1 June 2012 | 3,000 | 52.5 | 38.6 | 13.9 |
| Hankyoreh /Korea Society Opinion Institute | 26–27 May 2012 | 61.0 | 33.5 | 27.5 | |
| Realmeter | 21–25 May 2012 | 3,750 | 52.6 | 37.9 | 14.7 |
| JoongAng Ilbo | 15 May 2012 | 910 | 57.6 | 33.3 | 24.3 |
| Realmeter | 14–18 May 2012 | 3,750 | 52.0 | 37.5 | 14.5 |
| Realmeter | 7–11 May 2012 | 3,750 | 51.9 | 38.2 | 13.7 |
| Realmeter | 7–8 May 2012 | 1,500 | 55.7 | 36.3 | 19.4 |
| Realmeter | 30 April – 4 May 2012 | 3,000 | 52.4 | 38.0 | 14.4 |
| Realmeter | 23–27 April 2012 | 3,750 | 50.9 | 40.3 | 10.6 |
| Realmeter | 6–10 February 2012 | 3,750 | 44.3 | 43.0 | 1.3 |
| Realmeter | 30 January – 3 February 2012 | 3,750 | 44.4 | 44.9 | 0.5 |
| Donga Ilbo | 24 January 2012 | 46.7 | 38.4 | 8.3 |
Exit poll
KBS, MBC, and SBS Terrestrial Broadcasting Exit Survey| Candidate | Estimated Percentage |
| Park Geun-hye | 50.1% |
| Moon Jae-in | 48.9% |