South Korean presidential election, 2007
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| provinces and cities majority won by ■ – Lee Myung-bak ■ – Chung Dong-young ■ – Lee Hoi-chang | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of South Korea |
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Judiciary 
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The 17th South Korean presidential election took place on 19 December 2007.[1] The election was won by Lee Myung-bak of the Grand National Party, returning conservatives to the Blue House for the first time in ten years. Lee defeated United New Democratic Party candidate Chung Dong-young and independent candidate Lee Hoi-chang by the largest margin since direct elections were reintroduced in 1987.[2] It also marked the first time a president-elect in Korea was under investigation by a prosecutor.[3] Voter turnout was 63.0%, an all-time low according to the National Election Commission.[4]
Official candidates
| Candidate[5] | Party Affiliated | Notes |
| Chung Dong-young (정동영) |
United New Democratic Party 대통합민주신당 | |
| Lee Myung-bak (이명박) |
Grand National Party 한나라당 | |
| Kwon Young-ghil (권영길) |
Democratic Labour Party 민주노동당 | |
| Lee In-je (이인제) |
Democratic Party 민주당 | |
| Sim Dae-pyong (심대평) |
People First Party 국민중심당 | withdrawal |
| Moon Kook-hyun (문국현) |
Creative Korea Party 창조한국당 | |
| Chung Kun-mo (정근모) |
True Owner Coalition 참주인 연합 | |
| Huh Kyung-young (허경영) |
Economic Republican Party 경제공화당 | |
| Chun Hwan (전환) |
New-era Elegant People's Union 새시대 참사람 연합 | |
| Geum Min (금민) |
Korea Socialist Party 한국사회당 | |
| Lee Soo-sung (이수성) |
People’s Coalition for Unity and Advance 화합과 도약을 위한 국민 연대 | withdrawal |
| Lee Hoi-chang (이회창) |
Independent | |
Timeline
This list of dates are the major events managed by the NEC (National Election Commission).[6]
- February 28, 2007 - The official census is published, for the purpose of finding eligible voters
- April 23, 2007 - Beginning of pre registration of candidates.
- November 21 to November 25, 2007 - The NEC compiles and publishes the electoral rolls.
- November 25 and November 26, 2007 - Official period to register as a presidential candidate.
- December 12 - Electoral rolls finalized
- December 13 and December 14, 2007 - Absentee voting
- December 19 (from 06:00-18:00 KST) - Polling held
- December 20 - Votes are counted and results are announced
Liberal primaries
On this election, there were three liberal parties contested.
UNDP primary
Chung Dong-young was elected as the official candidate of the party on October 14, 2007.
Creative Korea Party primary
- Moon Kook-hyun (문국현), former CEO of Yuhan Kimberly (Kimberly-Clark's company in Korea), was elected as the official presidential candidate of the party on November 4, 2007.
Democrats primary
- Rule of presidential primary: the official result of this party's primary will combining the members' vote (50%), civil delegates (35%), and the result of opinion poll (15%) that conducted by phone on October 14, 2007.[7]
- Candidates
Lee In-je was elected as the official presidential candidate of the party.
Conservative (GNP) primary
The GNP primary consisted of opinion polling and popular vote (only party member could participate). The official result was announced on August 20, 2007, at 07:20 GMT, naming Lee Myung-bak the presidential candidate from the Hannara party.[8][9] Because Lee Myung-bak won the race with a slight margin, there was controversy regarding the method primary election used (opinion poll). However, Park Geun-hye conceded her loss to Lee Myung-bak. Park Geun-hye declared her presidential candidacy in the 2012 presidential election and won the primary.
| Candidate | Place | Opinion Polling Result | Electoral Vote | Total Count |
| Lee Myung-bak | Nominated | 51.54% (16,868) |
49.06% (64,216) |
81,084 49.56% |
| Park Geun-hye | 2nd | 42.74% (13,986) |
49.39% (64,648) |
78,632 48.06% |
| Won Hee-ryong | 3rd | 3.30% (1,079) |
1.01% (1,319) |
2,398 1.47% |
| Hong Jun-pyo | 4th | 2.42% (793) |
0.54 (710) |
1,503 0.92% |
| 32,726 | 130,893 | 103,118 |
1997 and 2002 presidential candidate for GNP, Lee Hoi-chang had announced his candidacy on November 7, 2007 as an independent, not joining GNP primary.
Progressive (DLP) primary
Voting method
- Online voting: All members of this party can log on to the official homepage to cast their vote. Confirmation process by cell phone is needed.
- Off-line voting: There are 227 voting stations around the nation. Voters can cast their vote from 09:00 to 22:00 (Considering more than 70% of the members' convenience, which are regular salaried-class people).
- Number of party members who can cast their vote: 50,117.[10]
Candidates
1st round
The official results of the first round, as announced on September 9, 2007, at 07:30 GMT, were:
- Shim Sang-jeong (심상정) 10,064 votes (26.08%)
- Roh Hoe-chan (노회찬) 9,478 votes (24.56%)
- Kwon Young-ghil (권영길) 19,053 votes (49.37%)
No candidate received a majority of the votes, so a second round of the presidential primary was scheduled from September 10 to September 15.[11]
Final (2nd) round
- Shim Sang-jeong (심상정) 17,122 votes (47.26%)
- Kwon Young-ghil (권영길) 19,109 votes (52.74%)
As a result, the official presidential candidate of Democratic Labour Party: Kwon Young-ghil.
Exit polls
The Exit poll was announced at 18:00 on election day. (As voting time was over)
It expected Lee Myung-bak's absolute majority.[12]
| Candidate | Estimated Winner | Estimated Percentage |
| Lee Myung-bak | Certain | 50.3% |
| Chung Dong-young | 2nd | 26.0% |
| Lee Hoi-chang | 3rd | 13.5% |
Final result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee Myung-bak | Grand National Party | 11,492,389 | 48.7 | |
| Chung Dong-young | United New Democratic Party | 6,174,681 | 26.1 | |
| Lee Hoi-chang | Independent | 3,559,963 | 15.1 | |
| Moon Kook-hyun | Creative Korea Party | 1,375,498 | 5.8 | |
| Kwon Young-ghil | Democratic Labor Party | 712,121 | 3.0 | |
| Lee In-je | Centrist Reformists Democratic Party | 160,708 | 0.7 | |
| Huh Kyung-young | Economic Republican Party | 96,756 | 0.4 | |
| Geum Min | Korea Socialist Party | 18,223 | 0.1 | |
| Total (turnout 63.0%) | 23,732,854 | 100.0 | ||
| Source: NEC (National Election Commission) | ||||
| regions · provinces · cities | .jpg) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee Myung-bak GNP |
Chung Dong-young UNDP |
Lee Hoi-chang Ind | |||||
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
| Sudogwon | Seoul | 2,689,162 | (53.2％) | 1,237,812 | (24.5％) | 596,226 | (11.8％) |
| Incheon | 593,283 | (49.2％) | 286,565 | (23.8％) | 183,057 | (15.2％) | |
| Gyeonggi | 2,603,443 | (51.9％) | 1,181,936 | (23.6％) | 670,742 | (13.4％) | |
| Gangwon | 376,004 | (52.0％) | 136,668 | (18.9％) | 127,102 | (17.6％) | |
| Chungcheong | Daejeon | 246,008 | (36.3％) | 159,700 | (23.6％) | 195,957 | (28.9％) |
| Chungcheongbuk | 289,499 | (41.6％) | 165,637 | (23.8％) | 162,750 | (23.4％) | |
| Chungcheongnam | 313,693 | (34.3％) | 192,999 | (21.1％) | 304,259 | (33.2％) | |
| Honam （Jeolla） |
Gwangju | 56,875 | (8.6％) | 527,588 | (79.8％) | 22,520 | (3.4％) |
| Jeollabuk | 86,149 | (9.0％) | 777,236 | (81.6％) | 34,630 | (3.6％) | |
| Jeollanam | 88,834 | (9.2％) | 757,309 | (78.7％) | 34,790 | (3.6％) | |
| Yeongnam （Gyeongsang） |
Busan | 1,018,715 | (57.9％) | 236,708 | (13.5％) | 346,319 | (19.7％) |
| Ulsan | 279,891 | (54.0％) | 70,736 | (13.6％) | 90,905 | (17.5％) | |
| Daegu | 876,719 | (69.4％) | 75,932 | (6.0％) | 228,199 | (18.1％) | |
| Gyeongsangbuk | 1,033,957 | (72.6％) | 96,822 | (6.8％) | 195,526 | (13.7％) | |
| Gyeongsangnam | 843,662 | (55.0％) | 189,463 | (12.4％) | 329,486 | (21.5％) | |
| Jeju | 96,495 | (38.7％) | 81,570 | (32.7％) | 37,495 | (15.0％) | |
Other information
On April 7, 2011, a National Intelligence Service agent was guilty of investigating Lee Myung-bak's secret real estate-related information before the election.[13]
According to Wikileaks, Yoo Chong-ha (유종하), the former co-chairman of Lee Myung-bak's presidential election campaign, requested to then American ambassador to South Korea, Alexander Vershbow, to delay the extraction of the main individual of the BBK embezzlement scandal, Christopher Kim (Kim Kyung-joon), to Korea on the request to prevent spreading controversies related to Lee Myung-bak's involvement in the BBK embezzlement scandal during the election season.[14][15][16][17]
References
- ↑ Schedule of 17th presidential election (Hangul 2002 format)
- ↑ Lee Myung-bak Elected President by a Landslide, The Chosun Ilbo, December 19, 2007. Retrieved on December 20, 2007.
- ↑ President-Elect Faces Probe, The Korea Times, December 19, 2007. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
- ↑ Kim, Ji-hyun (2007-12-19). "Lee Myung-bak cruises to landslide victory". The Korea Herald.
- ↑ List of Official Candidates
- ↑ Timeline (detailed) of 2007 presidential election (Korean), the NEC, 2007
- ↑ The method of 2007 presidential primary, the executives' committee of Democratic Party. Retrieved on August 29, 2007
- ↑ "Lee Myeong-bak beats Park Geun-hye with a narrow margin". Joongang Daily (in Korean). August 20, 2007.
- ↑ Kim Yeon-seok(김연석) (20 August 2007). "Lee Myung-bak wins GNP primary [이명박, 근소한 차 대선후보 확정]" (in Korean). Retrieved 29 April 2012.
- ↑ First round of results from 3 division will be the dividing point (Korean), The Hankyoreh. Retrieved on August 22, 2007.
- ↑ Kwon Young-ghil hasn't succeed to gain more than 50% of the vote (Korean), Ohmynews. Retrieved on September 9, 2007.
- ↑ Lee Myung-bak cruises to landslide victory The Korea Herald, 17 December 2007
- ↑ Im (임), Su-jeong (수정) (2011-04-07). "MB 부동산 소문 뒷조사 국정원 직원 징역형 (종합)". Yonhap News (in Korean). Retrieved 2011-04-10.
- ↑ "07SEOUL3225, KIM KYUNG-JOON'S EXTRADITION CASE". Wikileaks. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
- ↑ "US embassy cable - 김경준 송환 사건" (in Korean). Wiki Leaks Korea. Retrieved 2011-12-17. External link in
|publisher=(help) - ↑ Choi (최), Min-yeong (민영) (2011-09-03). ""BBK 김경준 송환 미뤄달라" 이명박 후보 측 미국에 요청". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). Retrieved 2011-12-17.
- ↑ Mun (문), Yong-pil (용필) (2011-09-05). "위키리크스 MB실체 폭로…"사실상 매국" 경악". Newsface (in Korean). Retrieved 2011-12-17.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to President of South Korea. |
- Official Homepage of the National Election Commission (English)
- Official Homepage of the NEC (Korean)
- Official list of candidates Chosunilbo, 27 November 2007
- Candidate profiles The Korea Times, 9 December 2007
- Korea Society Podcast: 24 Hours After South Korea's Presidential Election: An Assessment
| Presidential elections | |
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| Legislative elections | |
| Local elections | |
| By-elections | |
| Referendums | |
Candidates in the South Korean presidential election, 2007 | ||||||||||||
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| Liberals (Pro-Govt Primary) |
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| Conservatives (GNP Primary) |
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| Progressives (DLP Primary) |
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| Independents |
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| Resigned |
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Official candidates in small caps | ||||||||||||