‘Moment of Truth’ - GNP Primary Today

The Grand National Party (GNP) will hold its convention at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul at 2 p.m. August 20 and nominate its presidential candidate for the election on December 19. The final outcome will be released at around 4:30 p.m.

Ahead of the GNP convention, the party’s 185,080-member electoral college (made up of 46,108 delegates, 69,476 party members and 69,476 non-members) participated in a primary vote on August 19 from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at 248 polling stations nationwide, alongside a public opinion poll of ordinary citizens conducted from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

GNP leader Kang Jae-sup held a press conference at Yeouido and said, “We plan to open workshop sessions after the primary election for conciliation purposes. No objections will be allowed under any condition. I will make the winner of the primary race promise to embrace his or her counterpart’s camp, and the loser should accept the result and promise to support the winning nominee in the election campaign.”

Park Gwan-yong, who handled the overall procedure of the primary race, said in a phone interview with Dong-A Ilbo, “Now is the time for the candidates to accept whatever result is decided on, unite, and focus on returning to power. This is the only way to meet the Korean people’s expectations.”

Former Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak, after casting his ballot at Jongrogu, Seoul, said, “I believe citizens have supported me until the last moment because they expect me to boost the economy and to integrate Korea’s divided society.

Lee added, “Even if there were some painful moments in the process, both of us handled ourselves well,” and stressed, “When the primary race is over, I will talk to candidate Park and talk things over with her in order to return the party to power.”

Former GNP leader Park cast her ballot at Gangnamgu, Seoul and pointed out, “At the polling station in Busan, there was an incident in which a voter was captured while photographing the ballot sheet with his cell phone camera. This is a serious matter as it violates the secret voting rule which is guaranteed by the Constitution.”

In response to the question if she is willing to allow Lee to be the chairman of her election camp if she wins the primary race, or vice versa, asked at a press conference on August 18, she replied, “No matter who becomes the presidential candidate, we should unite to return to power.”

As for the current situation, Lee Bang-ho, who is a member of Lee’s camp, said, “As the average voter turnout exceeds expected levels, and since the voter turnout in Seoul is as high as the national average, where Lee is keeping his ground, Lee will win the primary race without difficulties,” and added, “He will win by at least 10,000 votes and 7-8 percentage points of support.”

Lee Sung-hun, who is in Park’s camp, said, “Park is holding a slight lead by 2 percentage points in Seoul, which exceeds expectations,” and added, “The voter turnout in Gyeongsang Province, where Park is strong, is the highest in the nation, and Jeonra Province (where Lee’s support rate is higher) shows the lowest, Park will win the nomination over Lee by 6 percentage points.

According to the National Election Commission (NEC), as of 5:00 p.m. on August 19, 118,019 voters among the total 185,080-member Election College have participated in the voting so far, and the voter turnout has been 63.8 percent. By region, the voter turnout in North Gyeongsang Province was the highest, with 82.4 percent, followed by Busan (73.8 percent), Ulsan (71.9 percent), and Jeju (71.7 percent). The lowest was in Gwangju, with 38.3 percent.

taylor55@donga.com