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Kang Kum-sil(left). Uri Party's Seoul Mayor candidate and Oh Se-hoon(right). Grand National Party's Seoul Mayor candidate, hold hand in a ceremony.
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Survey (2) Political Views of Voters in their 40s
The Hankyoreh asked the nine discussants about their perception of the two major Seoul Mayor candidates, Kang Kum-sil of the governing Uri Party and Oh Se-hoon of the opposition Grand National Party. These candidates are responsible for the sudden emergence of a new type of politics that puts greater emphasis on personal charm and simple popularity factors rather detailed campaign pledges. Kang is generally associated with positive values. Some discussants perceived her as an honest, strong-minded woman with a favorable public image, ability and a certain degree of charisma. Other participants found her to be very smart and able in connection with her career background as the Minister of Justice. However, the female candidate sustains a set of groundless stereotypes arising from her unconventional leadership style and liberal lifestyle. A few discussants remembered Kang as a good dancer or a social drinker of boilermaker cocktail shots. In some extreme cases, Kang was simply dismissed as a political Cinderella lacking proven track record or as a cold-blooded woman who failed to maintain her marriage. In this context, she was downplayed as a leader without a proper vision and concrete action plans. Oh Se-hoon also receives mixed response from the participants. His public perception revolves around a clean-cut, nice-guy image as a former environment activist and a reform-minded politician. In addition, one discussant viewed him as a visionary politician who knows how to fight the battle.
Nonetheless, Oh suffers from a number of negative reputations. In the first place, the 45-year-old former lawyer was seen to be selfish, untrustworthy and rebellious - the criticism stemming from his short-lived commitment to retiring from politics and refraining from seeking public office. Also, his lack of experience in government administration was noted as another weakness as an aspiring chief administrator of the Seoul metropolitan government. Overall, Kang was viewed as a strong-minded woman in the survey, as opposed to Oh being perceived as a nice guy. This leads to a quite unexpected conclusion that the public image of the two candidates shows marked differences in its nature, even though Kang is being perceived in much more diverse ways, whether positive or negative. Political analysts predict Kang would gain as much as she keeps distance from President Roh Moo-hyun and the ruling Uri Party. On the other hand, the closer he positions himself to the Grand National Party on whose platform he runs, the better he could do in the mayoral election, they note. One discussant said, "Kang has a large following of long-time loyal fans and supporters, but her political party association will certainly be a major obstacle that she cannot overcome." Another critical supporter said he would not mind voting for her if she is an independent candidate. "Kang is viewed as a woman of strong determination but at the same time, appears to be unreliable due to her liberal lifestyle," Lim Sang-nyeol, president of Research Plus said, commenting on why she is subject to much more diverse public perceptions. As for Oh, despite his signature nice-guy image at work, his potential as a career politician or a government leader is yet to be proven, Lim pointed out. Yi Tae-hui, hermes@hani.co.kr
