Election season begins Tuesday with hat-tossing

Campaigning for the June 13 local elections officially begins Tuesday with a two-day registration period for candidates.

The June 13 local elections are the third since more autonomy was given to local governments in 1995. Election watchers predict that the polls will serve as a barometer of public sentiment for the Dec. 19 presidential election, and so either look forward to or decry a heated competition between the two main political parties ?the Millennium Democratic Party and the Grand National Party.

Representative Lee Hai-chan, a campaign strategist for the Millennium Democratic Party, met with Kim Jong-pil, the leader of the small United Liberal Democrats on Monday, agreeing to join forces in the central Chungcheong provinces where the ULD has its base and in the vote-rich and much more liberal Seoul area.

The presidential nominee of the Grand National Party, Lee Hoi-chang, lent some support to his party's candidates in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi province in a press conference Monday. He said June 13 would be "judgement day" for the Millennium Democratic Party.

President Kim Dae-jung won the presidency with the party later renamed the MDP, but resigned recently to try to distance it from the financial scandals rocking his administration.

The major target areas for the two main parties are the capital region and Busan, the port city in South Gyeongsang province and Korea's second-largest metropolitan area. Busan in particular is expected to be a litmus test for the MDP's presidential nominee, Roh Moo-hyun, who roared out of nowhere to capture the MDP nomination.

Conducted during the season of World Cup fever here, election watchers said the turnout may be affected by voter distraction.

The National Election Commission, the central election watchdog body, predicted Monday that there will be more than three candidates on average for city mayor and provincial governor positions; it said there will be about four candidates for each opening at city, country and district offices.

by Lee Sang-il