639 Candidates Register with Election Committee

Political candidates hoping for a seat in the National Assembly began registering with the Election Commission on Tuesday. The National Election Commission forecasted around 1,300 candidates would register during the two days, making the competitive rate in the elections 5 to 1.

As of 5:30 p.m. on Mar. 25, 639 candidates registered in 245 districts. Only 10 proportional representatives from the Democratic Labor Party registered.

115 from the United Democratic Party, 167 from the Grand National Party, 36 from the Liberty Forward Party, 45 from the Democratic Labor Party, eight from pro-Park alliance, six from the Creative Korea Party, 196 from the Family Party for Peace & Unity, and 49 independent candidates submitted their application forms.

The richest candidate was Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the GNP with a fortune of 3.6 trillion won. The second richest man was GNP candidate Kim Ho-yeon (Cheonan-eul in South Chungcheong Province), Hanwha Chairman Kim Seung-youn’s younger brother. He reported a fortune of 143.8 billion won.

481 out of 639 candidates fulfilled their military service. 86 didn’t join the army. In other words, the ratio of people who didn’t complete their military duty stands at 13.5 percent. 72 people reported they were not obligated to join the army.

Meanwhile, President Lee Myung-bak ordered in a Cabinet meeting that ministries and offices should not be engaged in any activities that could potentially hurt the government’s neutrality in the elections.

“You must observe neutrality in the upcoming general elections.” President Lee said.

Lee added, “This year’s election should be the fairest one in history. Intentional slander and schemes should be completely discouraged and investigated to upgrade Korea’s election culture. The government should do its best to prevent any illegal activities that violate the election law. Once someone disobeys the law, that person should be investigated even after the election is over.”

leon@donga.com swpark@donga.com