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With the April 15 general election approaching, one could say the "ground" for politics has opened. Heightening the excitement is the aggressive recruiting of outside "experts" by all parties including the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party and the Justice Party.
The ruling party started by tapping 42-year-old Choi Hye-young, a quadriplegic former ballerina who has been working to improve awareness of the disabled, and Won Jong-geon, a manager of eBay, to run on its party ticket.
Most recently the ruling party has selected figures including 42-year-old former judge who alerted the party to the fact that there was a judicial blacklist and a plan to dissolve a human rights research group in the judiciary. He is considered to have jumpstarted the administration's ambitious drive to reform the powerful prosecution.
For its part, the Liberty Korea Party has asked former tennis coach Kim Eun-hee who started the #MeToo movement in sports in Korea, as well as North Korean defector and human rights activist Ji Seong-ho to represent their party. Most recently, the party brought on board such figures including political critic professor Kim Byeong-min, and Shin Beom-cheol, senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.
Some local media have dubbed the Democratic Party's outside candidates as people who have "life stories" ― they have overcome life challenges; while and the Liberty Korea Party's candidates are those who could possibly serve as "snipers" in the election.
Just reviewing the list of external recruits is almost like watching a survival show, a chance for lay voters to reconsider who they might have missed in terms of potential next-generation Assemblymen, and get a clue as to what policies the parties will adopt to tackle the uncertainties posed by growing inequality, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and climate change.
The official figures are not out yet regarding the number of voters after the Election Law was revised to lower the voting age to 18, and so now includes some high school seniors. But there were 42.91 million voters registered for the 2018 local elections, while the rough estimate of the number of new voters is around 530,000. Thus, some over 43 million voters are expected to vote in April, with desires in their hearts for the answers to the above factors that pose great uncertainties for us.
So far, achieving "justice and fairness" has been the rallying cry in the Moon Jae-in administration. But into its fourth year, many are doubting whether that's specific enough. In this era of integration, perhaps we can take a cue from none other than the French socialist party.
In a recent edition of The International Herald Tribune, the news that France's Socialist Party moved out of a building in Paris to a new headquarters based in a gritty suburb, Ivry-sur-Seine.
The move was due to the party being strapped for cash, and to inexorably give a new message as it flounders to reconnect with voters. Its party secretary general said that his party should focus on defending the "integrity of the individual" rather than on the "concept of workers' emancipation from the 1960s."
Something to think about.
