Lee Hoi-chang’s Long-prepared Third Presidential Bid

Former Grand National Party (GNP) leader Lee Hoi-chang has reportedly made thorough, step-by-step preparations for his third presidential bid since earlier this year. As an official GNP member, Lee opted out of the party primary. Instead, he is planning to jump into the race just 40 days prior to the election as an independent.

A close aide to former leader Lee visited a Korean video-sharing site, Pandora TV, to learn how to prepare and post possible campaign video clips. Since then, Lee’s aides reportedly have prepared campaign clips.

As of yesterday, the video-sharing site posted 140 clips about Lee at account (pandora.tv/2100) titled, “Window Opening Tomorrow.”

The site officer confirmed, “A close friend of Mr. Lee, Dr. Jee Sang-wuk, asked us, on his visit earlier this year, about how to open an account and how to post video clips. We answered his questions and gave tips.”

Lee spent last week at a place in a local city pondering over various issues, including when to announce his candidacy and how to run his campaign. As confirmed yesterday, he has moved to a hotel in Seoul and begun to run a campaign team there.

Another close aide to Lee confirmed over the phone, “We are working on his future campaign at a hotel in Seoul. Mr. Lee will announce his run sometime this week.” When asked whether or not Lee would give up on his third bid, the source replied, “Mr. Lee does not make decisions easily. I don’t think he will turn around on his latest decision. We have come too far. The coming two to three days will be the busiest days for us.”

Lee will reportedly announce his third bid in a public statement. He will cite the need to topple a socialist administration in the election.

Lee’s special aide Lee Heung-ju also said, “When Mr. Lee [Hoi-chang] makes the final call, we will find a place to make the announcement.”

In the meanwhile, a GNP official commented, “Our candidate Lee [Myung-bak] will visit Ms. Park [Geun-hye] soon. Lee will discuss diverse issues with Ms. Park to iron out differences and win her endorsement. We believe Park will soon roll up her sleeves to help Lee [Myung-bak].”

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