[Editorial] GNP at Crossroads of Political Maturity

The showdown over the Grand National Party’s presidential candidate nomination has just a day left. The month-long official primary race virtually finishes as of midnight today when the election campaign comes to an end. It was indeed a long journey, spanning 14 months, if unofficial electioneering is to be counted. Although there were many ups and downs, the GNP has managed to hold a full-fledged primary for the first time as a conservative political party. However, it will never be recorded as a successful primary unless the losers of the race willingly accept their defeats.

The contest between Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, who have the highest approval ratings in the country, has been the most heated and fierce in Korea’s modern political history. Although the two leading candidates competed over a number of policies, such as the construction of a cross-country canal and the introduction of a train ferry connecting Chinese and South Korean ports, they dedicated a majority of their time and effort to negative campaigning, raising suspicions on each other’s private matters. They even brought up the possibility of splitting the party over primary rules. Moreover, they have set a bad precedent of inviting the intervention of the police and the prosecution by filing countless complaints. The GNP must reflect upon those mistakes.

However, there were also positive aspects of the race. The introduction of the verification hearings was praised to have rewritten Korean political history. The use of the user created content (UCC) as part of the questioning session during debates was also refreshing. Although a number of regrettable incidents occurred due to overheated competition in the process of four policy discussions, four televised debates and 13 joint-speech sessions, it was a meaningful attempt. It is also important to note that, with the exception of Rep. Goh Jin-hwa, all four candidates, including Rep. Hong Jun-pyo and Rep. Won Hee-ryong, completed the nomination race.

The primary is not the end, but the beginning of the final race. The main contest has not even begun. The GNP lost both the 1997 and 2002 presidential elections due to a primary candidate’s defiance to accept his defeat and poor responses to negative campaigning. The GNP has had the bitter experiences of throwing away their chances of taking power. If Lee and Park do not join hands after the primary, the GNP may have to repeat its painful defeats once more.

The beauty of the primary can be seen when the winner warmly embraces the losers, and the losers accept their defeats without hesitation, even after a fierce competition. We hope to see such a beautiful scene for the development of Korea’s party politics. The GNP is now standing at a major crossroads. The success of the primary will be achieved only when its primary candidates unite as one at the party convention scheduled to be held on Monday.