Something new in politics: Pick nominee by vote

The seven presidential hopefuls from the Millennium Democratic Party set off Saturday on an odyssey intended to shift party politics from the smoke-filled room toward more public participation.

First stop - the southern island resort of Jeju, where selected voters will cast ballots in a primary election modeled in part on the U.S. system.

The party's "seven dragons" - Representative Rhee In-je, Representative Hahn Hwa-kap, former Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Noh Mu-hyun, Representative Chung Dong-young, Representative Kim Keun-tae, former party chairman Kim Joong-kwon and North Jeolla province Governor You Jong-keun - have been campaigning fiercely to get a jump in Korea's presidential cycle.

The second in a series of 16 primaries follows Sunday in Ulsan. The general election will be Dec. 8.

The electorate for these tests of candidate strength are 70,000 members of an electoral college brand new to Korean politics. Half of them are volunteer voters chosen by the party through lottery. The others will be party officials and rank-and-file party workers.

The intention is to generate public enthusiasm in a political system that has been largely boss-dominated - and, perhaps to search for younger leadership after the long reign of the "three Kims" - former President Kim Young-sam, President Kim Dae-jung and former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil.

The primary season ends April 27 in Seoul, when all the regional votes will be tallied. If one of the candidates receives 50 percent or more in the complex voting system the party has adopted, he will become the party's nominee - and the underdog in the general election. Polls consistently show the opposition Grand National Party's leader, Lee Hoi-chang, as the front-runner to become the 16th president of Korea.

The ruling party adopted the new primary system after it suffered devastating losses Oct. 25 in three by-elections. President Kim stepped down as party president, taking responsibility for the defeat. The party had steadily lost popularity amid a welter of financial corruption scandals involving venture businesses and corporate raiders collusively linked with senior government officials.

The primary scheme was devised to restore public faith in the party and to give its candidates national exposure. And the idea has turned out to be contagious. Not to appear less democratic, the Grand National Party will put on its own traveling primary show, starting April 13, reaching 11 regions and finishing in Seoul on May 9. It has recruited 54,000 electors - again, half of them volunteers from the public, half party figures.

"The system is unlike any in the world," said Professor Cho Kisuk of Ewha Womans University Graduate School of International Studies. "But when the Millennium Democrats said they would adopt such a system, academics lent support because expanding public participation is desirable,"

The Millennium Democratic primary began with registration of presidential candidates on Feb. 22. Then the 35,000 volunteers were selected through notices carried on the party's Internet homepage and in newspaper advertisements. For the 378 volunteer voters allocated to Jeju, some 60,000 registrations poured in. That was just what the party wanted. But the party got what it wanted in part, according to legmen on the campaign front lines, more from diligent mobilization than ardent public interest.

"To be frank, we are not seeing a voluntary response from the public," an aide working in Mr. Hahn's camp said. "You know, we face constituents who are greatly dissatisfied with the Kim Dae-jung administration and the ruling party's performance over the past five years."

The aide said that he had worked the party network within Jeju, and personal networks to invite voters to volunteer. "This primary is shaping into one determined by a candidate's organizational prowess rather than his ability to raise public interest in issues," he said.

The race in Jeju is narrowing down to a three-way competition between Mr. Rhee, a former labor minister and a presidential candidate in 1997, Mr. Noh, a former maritime affairs and fisheries minister, and Mr. Hahn, a former ruling party floor leader. A JoongAng Ilbo survey team on Monday polled 393 of the 792 Jeju electors. Mr. Rhee received the most votes with 28.5 percent, followed by Mr. Noh at 15 percent,and Mr. Hahn at 13.5 percent. Mr. Chung, a former broadcaster received 12.7 percent.

But in Ulsan, the order changed. The Joong-Ang Ilbo survey on Tuesday reached 533 of the 1,424 electors. South Gyeongsang province is Mr. Noh's home turf, and voters responded with 33. 8 percent of their votes, followed by Mr. Rhee at 24.4 percent. Kim Joong-kwon followed with 10.3 percent, and Mr. Chung had 10.1 percent.

As the primaries progress, the race may come down to Mr. Rhee against the "anti-Rhee In-je" forces in the party. These notably include Representatives Hahn, Chung, Kim and Noh. They attack Mr. Rhee's sense of loyalty. They say he does not befit the party's image as reformers and former democracy movement leaders. And they insist that the party needs to put up a candidate from the Gyeongsang provinces.

An aide working for Mr. Rhee complained of a "matador" offensive from the anti-Rhee forces.

Mr. Noh's strategists expressed confidence that they can turn the tide in Ulsan, his hometown, and Gwangju, the de facto headquarters of the ruling party. The party's adoption of the Australian alternate-vote system, they believe, will bring non-Rhee votes to Mr. Noh.

Electors will rank the candidates in order of preference, one through seven. If one candidate receives 50 percent of the first-place votes he will be the party's nominee. If no candidate wins a majority, however, the lowest-ranking candidate will be eliminated and his second-choice votes added into the tally. The process is repeated, eliminating candidates from the bottom, until a majority is produced at the top.

"We believe as other weak candidates fall away, Mr. Noh will naturally pick up their votes," said Yoo Jong-pil, a Noh aide.

Aides in Mr. Hahn's and other reformers' camps called that prediction wishful thinking.

"The race will become more heated by the time it gets nearer to Seoul. There may be some dramatic changes by then," said Professor Cho. The dramatic flip and flops will be determined by the Korean voters' regional sentiment, which is akin to American voters' party affiliation, she said.

There may even be a chance that losing candidates will splinter off into a new party, a rumor that is gaining weight in the political sector since the defection of former President Park Chung Hee's eldest daughter, Representative Park Geun-hye from the Grand National Party.

Wouldn't that render the adoption of the primary useless?

"No, the voters will have learned a lesson," said Professor Cho.

by Kim Ji-soo