Ghosts of past presidents loom over South Korea's election
韓国大統領選 高い投票率
South Korea: The dictator's daughter
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
South Korea's election represents "embodiments of two great dead men," says expert
December 19 election pits dictator's daughter against human rights lawyer
Park Geun-hye could be Korea's first female president
How voters see Park depends largely on how they view her father whose legacy is divided
Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- "South Korean voters will have to make a choice not between independent politicians... but between two people who are seen as avatars, embodiments of two great dead men."
That's the widely shared opinion of Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul. This election has been heavily influenced by the ghosts of presidents past.
The favorite, but only just, heading to the polls, is Park Geun-hye, the 60-year-old daughter of former dictator Park Chung-hee. She has admitted to taking inspiration from Britain's former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth II. If elected, Park would become the country's first female president, an issue Park plays on in her television campaign advertisements, signing off "the prepared female president."
Park Geun-hye walks with her late father and former president Park Chung-hee in 1977. But it is almost impossible to separate her present from her past. How voters see Park depends largely on how they view her father.
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North Korea hopes to launch more rockets Park Chung-hee seized power in a military coup in 1961 and ruled until he was assassinated by his spy chief in 1979. It is widely accepted he rebuilt the country from the ashes of the Korean War and sparked a dramatic economic transformation, but his methods split the country.
Park changed the constitution to cement power and cracked down on dissent and opposition. Though he did hold and win a number of elections during his reign, he is also accused of human rights abuses and delaying the advent of democracy in South Korea.
Park Geun-hye spent months of her campaign defending her father's actions, insisting different times required different methods. But in September she finally apologized to those hurt by his dictatorial rule.
"I understand that the end does not justify the means," she said. "And this should be a lasting value for democracy."
Her core support is among the over-50s, those who remember her father fondly as well as his economic policies that dragged the country out of poverty. His wife, Yuk Young-soo, remains to this day the most popular first lady South Korea has seen, according to polls.
Known affectionately as "mother of the nation," some supporters say Park resembles her mother with her frugal lifestyle and 1970s hairstyle. At a memorial service for her mother in August, she said she shares her mother's vision of a more equal society. "It was my mother's dream, and her dream is now mine."
Politics has defined Park as she spent her formative years in the Blue House, which is the official residence for South Korea's president. But it also destroyed her family. Her mother was assassinated in 1974, killed by a botched North Korean attempt to kill her father. Park stepped in as first lady until her father's assassination in 1979. She then withdrew from public life.
Park Geun-hye poses in a 1979 group photo with former U.S. president Jimmy Carter in the Blue House.Being her father's daughter is a double-edged sword and one that Lankov says she cannot avoid.
"The question is to which extent President Park, if she becomes the president, will be capable of challenging, deviating from the traditions of the heritage of her father?
"The world of Park Chung-hee is long gone. In his days back in the 1960s, Korea had to develop as fast as possible whatever the costs. It's clearly not the case now, Korea needs a comprehensive welfare system, Korea should think about the environment and foreign policy changes."
Park Geun-hye, now a South Korean presidential candidate, shakes hands with graduates of Air Force Academy in 1979.The man standing in the way of her becoming President Park is liberal rival, Moon Jae-in, chief of staff for the late President Roh Moo-hyun.
A former human rights activist, Moon was imprisoned during the 1970s for protesting against the regime of Park's father. He is selling himself as the down-to-earth choice, calling for welfare reform and economic democracy -- similar policies to Park.
Moon also served in the special forces before becoming a human rights lawyer alongside Roh, before joining him in the Blue House.
Once lagging in the polls, Moon has enjoyed a recent boost from the support of a former presidential candidate, Ahn Cheol-soo, a man with no political experience but a strong following among younger disillusioned voters.
By Paula Hancocks, CNN
December 18, 2012 -- Updated 0844 GMT (1644 HKT)
韓国大統領選 高い投票率
12月19日 12時19分
韓国の大統領選挙は、１９日朝から投票が始まり、正午現在の投票率は過去２回と比べても高く、与野党の候補による大接戦を反映して有権者の関心の高さを示しています。
韓国の大統領選挙は、１９日朝６時から投票が始まり、全国１万３０００か所余りの投票所で一斉に行われています。
韓国初の女性大統領を目指す与党、セヌリ党のパク・クネ候補は、ソウル市内で投票し、記者団に対して「謙虚な心で国民の選択を待ちたい。賢明な国民の皆さんが韓国の新しい時代を開いてくれると信じている」と述べました。
一方、政権交代を訴える最大野党、民主統合党のムン・ジェイン候補は、夫人と共に地元のプサンで投票したあと、「すべての力を出し尽くした。人事を尽くして天命を待ちたい」と述べました。
与野党の候補による、かつてないほどの大接戦となっている今回の選挙は、経済格差の是正や雇用対策などが大きな争点で、投票を済ませた女性は「市民の暮らしは厳しいので、新しい大統領には経済をよくしてもらいたい」と話していました。
韓国の中央選挙管理委員会によりますと、正午現在の投票率は、３４．９％で、過去２回よりも高く、最終的な投票率が７０．８％となった前々回をおよそ２ポイント上回っています。
７０％を大きく超えた場合、若者や無党派層からの支持が比較的多いムン候補に有利になるとされており、最終的な投票率も選挙結果を左右することになりそうです。
投票時間は午後６時までで、即日開票され、新しい大統領は１９日夜遅くに決まる見通しです。
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