1997 South Korean presidential election

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1997 South Korean presidential election

← 1992 18 December 1997 2002 →
Turnout80.7% (Decrease1.2)
  Kim Dae-jung presidential portrait.jpg Lee Hoi-chang (2010).jpg
2006년 11월 9일 국회의원 이인제.jpg
Nominee Kim Dae-jung Lee Hoi-chang Lee In-je
Party National Congress Grand National New National
Popular vote 10,326,275 9,935,718 4,925,591
Percentage 40.3% 38.7% 19.2%

1997 Republic of Korea Presidential Election, Provincial-level divisions.svg
Results by provincial-level divisions

President before election

Kim Young-sam
Independent

Elected President

Kim Dae-jung
National Congress

Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 18 December 1997. The result was a victory for opposition candidate Kim Dae-jung, ending almost four decades of authoritarian military rule.[1] When he took office in 1998, it also marked the first time in Korean history that the ruling party peacefully transferred power to the opposition party.

Nominations[]

National Congress for New Politics[]

The NCNP National Convention was held on 19 May at Olympic Gymnastics Arena. Kim Dae-jung, a former 6-term lawmaker from South Jeolla, was nominated for president, defeating Chyung Dai-chul, a former 4-term lawmaker from Seoul.[2]

Candidate Delegates %
Kim Dae-jung 3,223 78.04
Chyung Dai-chul 907 21.96
Invalid/blank votes 27
Total 4,157 100

New Korea Party[]

The ruling New Korea Party's presidential nominating convention took place on 21 July at Olympic Gymnastics Arena, during which former Prime Minister Lee Hoi-chang defeated former Gyeonggi governor Lee In-je after two rounds of voting and became the party's nominee.[3]

Candidate First round Second round
Delegates % Delegates %
Lee Hoi-chang 4,963 41.13 6,922 59.96
Lee In-je 1,776 14.72 4,622 40.04
Lee Han-dong 1,771 14.68
Kim Deok-ryong 1,674 13.87
Lee Soo-sung 1,648 13.66
Choi Byung-ryul 236 1.96
Total 12,068 100 11,544 100

United Liberal Democrats[]

The ULD National Convention held on 24 June at Olympic Gymnastics Arena overwhelmingly nominated 8-term lawmaker Kim Jong-pil from South Chungcheong for president.[4]

Candidate Delegates %
Kim Jong-pil 2,575 82.29
Han Young-soo 554 17.71
Total 3,129 100

Democratic Party[]

On 11 September, the Democratic Party, once the premier opposition to the New Koreans but a fringe party ever since the defection of Kim Dae-jung's faction in 1995, nominated Seoul mayor Cho Soon for president.[5]

New National Party[]

On 4 November, former NKP politicians unhappy with Lee Hoi-chang founded the New National Party and nominated Lee In-je for president. This was after the scandal regarding Lee Hoi-chang's sons being excused from the military service hit the news cycle and brought Lee's popularity down.[6]

Campaign[]

Early polls showed Lee Hoi-chang leading Kim Dae-jung by as much as 30 percentage points.

Lee Hoi-chang's lead was lost when press reports emerged that Lee’s two sons had evaded military conscription by shedding weight before their physical examinations. The South Korean public tends to be intolerant towards men who attempt to evade mandatory military service or receive special treatment. Lee In-je then launched his own bid for the presidency, claiming that Lee Hoi-chang could not win the election and stood for a generational shift in South Korean politics as he was 20 years younger than any candidate in the race. These developments led to Kim leading in the polls by a slender margin.

The election also took place in the context of the IMF crisis where South Korea was forced to accept an IMF bailout on 3 December amidst an economic crash.

Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-pil form an alliance[]

Kim Dae-jung, or "D.J." and Kim Jong-pil, or "J.P." agreed on 3 November to form an alliance against their common enemy, Lee Hoi-chang. In this agreement, JP announced to withdraw his bid for president to endorse DJ, and in turn DJ would appoint JP as the prime minister once elected president. The two Kims also agreed to revise the Constitution after the election from presidential system to parliamentary system, and the NCNP and ULD would cooperate on different issues as a coalition government. Kim Dae-jung shocked his supporters with this move as Kim Jong-pil prominently served as prime minister under the Park Chung-hee authoritarian regime of the 1960s and 70s to join his ticket even though Kim was targeted by the Park regime as a political dissident, surviving government assassination attempts and imprisonment.

Anti-Kim Coalition: the Grand National Party[]

On the other hand, needing a breakthrough as Kim Dae-jung's popularity soared, Lee Hoi-chang and Cho Soon also agreed to combine forces. On 21 November, the New Korea Party and Democratic Party merged into one party, and was founded as the Grand National Party. Cho Soon was made the chairman of the party, and Lee Hoi-chang the candidate for president.

The election was also the first to feature election debates between the candidates.

Results[]

CandidatePartyVotes%
Kim Dae-jungNational Congress for New Politics10,326,27540.27
Lee Hoi-changGrand National Party9,935,71838.75
Lee In-jeNew National Party4,925,59119.21
Kwon Young-ghilPeople's Victory for 21st Century306,0261.19
Shin Jeong YilUnified Korea Party61,0560.24
Kim Han-sikHonest Politics Unite48,7170.19
Huh Kyung-youngRepublican Party39,0550.15
Total25,642,438100.00
Valid votes25,642,43898.46
Invalid/blank votes400,1951.54
Total votes26,042,633100.00
Registered voters/turnout32,290,41680.65
Source: Nohlen et al.

By region[]

regions · provinces · cities Kim Dae-jung presidential portrait.jpg Lee Hoi-chang (2010).jpg 2006년 11월 9일 국회의원 이인제 (cropped).jpg
Kim Dae-jung
NCNP
Lee Hoi-chang
GNP
Lee In-je
NNP
Sudogwon Seoul 44.9% 40.9% 12.8%
Incheon 38.5% 36.4% 23.0%
Gyeonggi 39.3% 35.5% 23.6%
Gangwon 23.8% 43.2% 30.9%
Chungcheong Daejeon 45.0% 29.2% 24.1%
Chungcheongbuk 37.4% 30.8% 29.4%
Chungcheongnam 48.3% 23.5% 26.1%
Honam
Jeolla
Gwangju 97.3% 1.3% 0.7%
Jeollabuk 92.3% 4.5% 2.1%
Jeollanam 94.6% 3.2% 1.4%
Yeongnam
Gyeongsang
Busan 15.3% 53.3% 29.8%
Ulsan 15.4% 51.4% 26.7%
Daegu 12.5% 72.7% 13.1%
Gyeongsangbuk 13.7% 61.9% 21.8%
Gyeongsangnam 11.0% 55.1% 31.3%
Jeju 40.6% 36.6% 20.5%

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "IFES Election Guide | Elections: Korea President 1997". www.electionguide.org. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  2. ^ 지면보기, 입력 2011 09 18 00:46 | 236호 13면 (September 18, 2011). 나이·건강 흠 잡힐까 봐 … DJ, 昌보다 이인제 두려워해. 중앙일보 (in Korean).
  3. ^ 이인용,김지은. 신한국당 대통령 후보 이회창 당선[김상수]. imnews.imbc.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  4. ^ 자민련 대통령 후보 김종필 총재의 압도적인 선택[윤정식]. MBC NEWS (in Korean).
  5. ^ 민주당 대통령 후보 조순 추대, 경제 대통령론 강조[김세용]. MBC NEWS (in Korean).
  6. ^ [국민신당 창당]후보 이인제-총재 이만섭씨 선출. www.donga.com (in Korean). November 4, 1997.
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