Punch no one saw coming

The presidential campaign swung to and fro with a seemingly endless string of momentum-changing events right up to election day. The last surprise came just seven hours before the polls opened, with Chung Mong-joon, chairman of National Alliance 21, retracting his pledge to support Roh Moo-hyun, the candidate of the Millennium Democratic Party.

National Alliance 21 cited differences on North Korea policy as the chief reason for the about-face, but political observers said Mr. Roh's apparent show of a lack of respect for Mr. Chung during the last stages of the campaign prompted Mr. Chung to break his promise.

The announcement came just about an hour before official campaigning ended at midnight Wednesday. Mr. Chung campaigned with Mr. Roh on Wednesday in Jongno, central Seoul. Mr. Roh told a crowd that the pair would bring a new politics to Korea. But after spotting Mr. Chung's supporters waving signs that read "Chung Mong-joon in 2007," Mr. Roh cautioned them not to get too far ahead of themselves. He hailed two MDP lawmakers as next-generation leaders. "Our female leader, Choo Mi-ae, would seize me by the collar if I hesitated to usher in a new political era," Mr. Roh said. "And Chung Dong-young, our party adviser, encouraged me every time I got weak and was tempted to stick with the status quo."

At a rally in Myeong-dong earlier in the day, Mr. Roh did not mention his alliance with Mr. Chung for 20 minutes, other than a vague promise to overhaul Korean conglomerates. Mr. Chung is a son of Chung Ju-yung, the late founder of the Hyundai Group, and holds the largest stake of Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Mr. Roh's Tuesday interview with online newspaper Pressian also reportedly angered Mr. Chung. Mr. Roh said he never made a binding promise to Mr. Chung on forming a coalition government and added that promises made during any campaign can be hasty and, if kept, could limit a new government.

Mr. Chung decided to pull out of the alliance while dining with party associates after the Jongno rally. Hong Yun-o, the National Alliance spokesman, said Mr. Roh's comments at several rallies had insulted Mr. Chung.

The reversal shocked the MDP, which was glowing with confidence. Mr. Roh and election commission executives rushed to Mr. Chung's house in Pyeongchang-dong, northern Seoul, at almost midnight, about an hour after the announcement by National Alliance 21. Mr. Chung refused to meet the candidate. Mr. Roh waited for several minutes before returning to his campaign headquarters.

Mr. Chung did not vote yesterday, shutting himself up in his house all day. He said that he would talk about his last-minute decision at an appropriate time.

Meanwhile, 67 members of National Alliance 21, including former lawmaker Lee Chul, who led talks to form the Roh-Chung alliance, quit the party yesterday. They said they cannot work with a party that breaks its promise to the people.

by Koh Han-sun