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2017 South Korean presidential election
Election in South Korea From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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An early presidential election was held in South Korea on 9 May 2017. The elections were conducted in a single round, on a first-past-the-post basis. Originally scheduled for 20 December 2017, the election was pushed forward following the impeachment and removal of Park Geun-hye on 10 March.[1] This is due to a requirement by the constitution of South Korea for an election to be held within 60 days of a permanent presidential vacancy, which in this case was caused by the 10 March decision of the Constitutional Court of Korea to uphold the impeachment and remove Park from office. Later, it was confirmed by the government that the date of the election would be 9 May, making them the first snap presidential elections held directly. Following procedures set out in the Constitution of South Korea, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn succeeded Park as the acting president. After Park was removed from office by the Constitutional Court's ruling, acting president Hwang announced he would not run for a term in his own right.[2][3][4]
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Opinion polling before April consistently placed the Democratic Party's candidate, Moon Jae-in, runner-up in the 2012 election, as the front-runner. Second place in the opinion polls was initially held by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who declined to run in February, followed by Ahn Hee-jung, whilst he lost the Democratic primaries to Moon. Support for People Party founder Ahn Cheol-soo then surged, threatening Moon's lead in the polls throughout early April, before descending to approximately equal that of Liberty Korea Party's candidate, Hong Jun-pyo, in final polls.
Moon won the election with 41 percent of the vote, defeating his nearest opponent, Hong, by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. Under the Constitution of South Korea, if a president dies, resigns, or is removed by impeachment, a new election must take place within 60 days. As a result, unlike previous presidential elections, president-elect Moon took office immediately upon the confirmation of the result by the National Election Commission, with the inauguration at the National Assembly on the same day.
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Background
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Park Geun-hye of the conservative Saenuri Party (renamed just prior to the election in February 2017 as the Liberty Korea Party) won the previous presidential election in 2012, succeeding Lee Myung-bak of the same party.
The Saenuri Party lost the parliamentary election in April 2016, with opposition parties including liberal Democratic Party and People Party winning a majority in the National Assembly. Commentators described the result as leaving Park a lame duck president, as South Korean presidents are barred from reelection.[5][6][7] and the Nikkei Asian Review noted that, in the wake of her "crushing defeat", "rivals sense a prime opportunity to complete the power shift in the December 2017 presidential vote".[5] The Korea Times stated: "The drama of deals and power struggles for next year's election has already begun."[8]
Impeachment of President Park Geun-hye
On 9 December 2016, President Park was impeached by the National Assembly by a vote of 234 for and 56 against (with seven invalid votes and two abstentions) after her implication in the 2016 South Korean political scandal. The Constitutional Court reviewed the motion of impeachment. Per the Constitution, Park's powers were suspended until the Constitutional Court could review the case, and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn became acting president.
The Constitutional Court had 180 days to decide whether to uphold the impeachment. On 10 March 2017, Park was formally removed from office, with a unanimous ruling by all eight of the Constitutional Court's justices supporting her impeachment. A presidential election would have to be held within 60 days. In the interim, Prime Minister Hwang served out the remainder of the 18th term until election day.[citation needed]
The presidential election had previously been scheduled for 20 December, with Park barred from running due to the constitutional ban on any sort of presidential reelection. However, with Park's removal from office, the elections were brought forward to 9 May in order to ensure that a new president would be able to take office within 60 days of Park's removal, as required by the Constitution.
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Registered candidates
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The six parties represented in the National Assembly are the social liberal Democratic Party, the conservative Liberty Korea Party, the centrist People Party, the center-right Bareun Party, the progressive Justice Party, and pro-Park Geun-hye conservative Saenuri Party.
Ballot numbers for party candidates were given according to the candidate's party seat distribution in the National Assembly. Ballot numbers for independent and minor party candidates were determined through a random lottery by the National Election Commission.
A record number of 15 candidates registered, out of which two withdrew before election day.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 (withdrew) | 12 | 13 (withdrew) | 14 | 15 |
| Moon Jae-in |
Hong Jun-pyo |
Ahn Cheol-soo |
Yoo Seung-min |
Sim Sang-jung |
Cho Won-jin |
Oh Young-guk |
Chang Sŏng-min |
Lee Jae-oh |
Kim Seon-dong | Nam Jae-jun |
Lee Kyung-hee |
Kim Jung-son |
Yoon Hong-sik |
Kim Min-chan |
| Democratic | Liberty Korea | People's | Bareun | Justice | Saenuri | Economic Patriots | Grand National United | Evergreen Korea | People's United | United Korea | Korean Nationalist | Future Korea Peninsula | Hongik | Independent |
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Nominations
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Democratic Party
Candidate
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Primary
Candidates were determined by an open primary of citizens who registered as a voter between February 15 to March 9, and March 12 to March 21. Overall, 2,144,840 people registered as a primary voter, making the 2017 primary the largest in Korean history.[9][10]
The primary was conducted from March 22 to April 3, with the voting base divided by four regions: Honam, Yeongnam, Hoseo and Seoul Capital Area, Gangwon Province, and Jeju Province as a single region. 71.6% of the registered voters voted in the primary, putting the vote total at 1,642,640.[10][11]
Candidates were:
- Moon Jae-in, former party chairman (2015–16), member of the National Assembly for Busan Sasang District (2012–16), 2012 Democratic United Party presidential nominee[8][12]
- Ahn Hee-jung, Governor of South Chungcheong Province (2010–2018)[13]
- Choi Sung, Mayor of Goyang (2010–present), former member of the National Assembly for Goyang (2004–08)[14]
- Lee Jae Myung, Mayor of Seongnam (2010–18)[15]
Results
| Candidate | Place | Votes | Percentage |
| Moon Jae-in | Nominated | 936,419 | 57.0% |
| Ahn Hee-jung | 2nd | 353,631 | 21.5% |
| Lee Jae Myung | 3rd | 347,647 | 21.2% |
| Choi Sung | 4th | 4,943 | 0.3% |
| 1,642,677 | 100% | ||
Liberty Korea Party
Candidate
Primary
Candidate was determined by a combination of opinion polls, conducted between March 30 to March 31 (50%), and the votes cast by the delegates at the party convention held on March 31 (50%). Candidates were:
- Lee In-je, member of the National Assembly until 2016, former Minister of Labour, former Governor of Gyeonggi Province and 1997 presidential candidate[16]
- Hong Jun-pyo, incumbent governor of South Gyeongsang Province (2012–present)[17]
- Kim Kwan-yong, incumbent governor of North Gyeongsang Province (2006–present)
- Kim Jin-tae, member of the National Assembly for Chuncheon (2012–present)
Results
| Candidate | Place | Opinion Polls | Delegate Votes | Aggregated Result |
| Hong Jun-pyo | Nominated | 46.7% | 62.9% | 54.15% |
| Kim Jin-tae | 2nd | 17.5% | 21.1% | 19.30% |
| Lee In-je | 3rd | 24.6% | 5.1% | 14.85% |
| Kim Kwan-yong | 4th | 11.2% | 12.2% | 11.70% |
| 100% | 100% | 100% | ||
People's Party
Candidate
Primary
Candidate was chosen by an open primary (80%) and an opinion poll conducted between April 4 and 5 (20%). The primary was conducted through March 25 to April 4, with 7 regional primaries being held. Ahn Cheol-soo was declared winner of the primary on April 4.[18] The candidate were:
- Ahn Cheol-soo, former party co-chairman (2016), former co-chairman of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (March–July 2014), withdrawn presidential candidate in 2012, founder of AhnLab, Inc., member of the National Assembly for Nowon District (2013–present)[5][8]
- Sohn Hak-kyu, former member of the National Assembly for Seongnam (2011–12), former governor of Gyeonggi Province (2002–06), former assemblyman for Gwangmyeong (1993–98, 2000–02)[12][19]
- Park Joo-seon, deputy speaker of the National Assembly (2016–present), member of the National Assembly (2000–2004, 2008–present)
Results
| Candidate | Place | Votes | Percentage |
| Ahn Cheol-soo | Nominated | 133,927 | 72.71% |
| Sohn Hak-kyu | 2nd | 35,696 | 19.38% |
| Park Joo-seon | 3rd | 14,561 | 6.92% |
| 184,768 | 100% | ||
Bareun Party
Candidate
Primary
Candidate was determined by a combination of votes from an evaluation commission based on 4 debates, held in different region of the country (40%), votes from the party members (30%), and public opinion polls (30%). Candidates were:
- Yoo Seong-min, member of the National Assembly for Daegu (2004–present)[20]
- Nam Kyung-pil, incumbent governor of Gyeonggi Province (2014–present)
Yoo Seong-min was nominated as the candidate of Baerun Party on March 28.[21]
Results
| Candidate | Place | Votes | Percentage |
| Yoo Seung-min | Nominated | 36,593 | 62.9% |
| Nam Kyung-pil | 2nd | 21,625 | 37.1% |
| 58,218 | 100% | ||
Justice Party
Candidate
Primary
Candidates were determined by a closed voting of the party members. Candidates were:
- Sim Sang-jung, Chairperson of the Justice Party (2015–present), member of the National Assembly for Goyang (2004– 2008, 2012–present) [22]
- Kang Sang-goo, vice president of the Justice Party education institute
Sim Sang-jung was nominated as the candidate of the Justice Party on February 16.[23]
Results
| Candidate | Place | Votes | Percentage |
| Sim Sang-jung | Nominated | 8,209 | 80.7% |
| Kang Sang-goo | 2nd | 1,962 | 19.3% |
| 10,239 | 100% | ||
Other Nominations
- Cho Won-jin (Saenuri Party) Member of the National Assembly (2008–2020)
- Oh Young-guk (Economic Patriots Party) CEO of Haha Group
- Jang Sung-min (Grand National Unity Party) Media pundit and Member of the National Assembly (2000–2004)
- Lee Jae-oh (Evergreen Korea Party) Member of the National Assembly (1996–2008, 2010–2016)
- Kim Sun-dong (People's United Party) Member of the National Assembly (2011–2014)
- Nam Jae-jun (United Korea Party) Former Director of the NIS (2013–2014)
- Lee Kyung-hee (Korea Nationalist Party) Entrepreneur and Co-leader of the Korean Nationalist Party
- Kim Jung-sun (Future Korean Peninsula) Leader of the Future Korean Peninsula Party
- Yoon Hong-sik (Hongik Party) Youtuber and Leader of the Hongik Party
- Kim Min-chan (Independent) Chairman of the World Masters Committee
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Notable non-candidates
- Hwang Kyo-ahn, acting President (2016–2017), Prime Minister (2015–2017), former Minister of Justice (2013–15) announced that he would not be running for the presidency on 15 March 2017.[2]
- Kim Boo-kyum, member of the National Assembly for Daegu (2016–present), former member for Gunpo (2000–12),[5][12] announced that he would not be running for the presidency on 7 February 2017.[24]
- Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations (2007–2016), was considering running as a non-partisan candidate but announced on 1 February 2017 that he would not be running for the presidency.[25][26][5][8]
- Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul (2011–present), announced that he would not be running for the presidency on 26 January 2017.[27]
- Oh Se-hoon, former Mayor of Seoul (2006–2011), announced that he would not be running for the presidency on 13 January 2017.[28]
- Kim Moo-sung, former chairman of the Saenuri Party (2014–2016), announced that he would not be running for the presidency on 24 November 2016.[29]
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Campaign
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Official campaign
The official campaign begun on April 17 and ended on midnight of May 8.[30]
Debates
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Opinion polling
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Opinion polls throughout 2017 showed Moon Jae-in as the leading candidate. Polls prior to the conclusion of the Democratic primary (which included his rivals to the nomination) had Moon at around 30% support, and polls conducted after he had won the primary showed generally consistent results of around 40% by April.
Polling showed a significant decline in support for Ahn Cheol-soo during April. While at the beginning of the month he was polling close to Moon, and even exceeded him in a few polls, by May his support had dropped to around 20%. This decline coincided with rising support for Hong Jun-pyo. By the time of the polling blackout period began on 3 May, Ahn and Hong were recording similar levels of support.
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Opinion polling January–March 2017, includes persons who did not secure their party's nomination or declined to run
Opinion polling April–May 2017
Exit polls
KBS, MBC, and SBS Terrestrial Broadcasting Exit Survey
| Candidate | Estimated Percentage |
| Moon Jae-in | 41.4% |
| Hong Jun-pyo | 23.3% |
| Ahn Cheol-soo | 21.8% |
| Yoo Seung-min | 7.1% |
| Sim Sang-jung | 5.9% |
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Results
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Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party won the plurality of the votes (41.09% in contrast to 24.04% won by his closest opponent Hong Jun-pyo), thus winning this election. He assumed the office as the President of South Korea immediately upon the confirmation of the results at 8:09 am on 10 May 2017 (Local time) and was inaugurated in the National Assembly at afternoon on the same day.[36]
Moon's 17.1% margin of victory is the largest percentage margin for any liberal candidate since the beginning of free and fair direct elections in 1987.
   Vote share by municipalities and provinces (inset) |
By region
Major candidates
Breakdown of votes by region for candidates with at least 1% of the total votes.
Minor candidates
Breakdown of votes by region for candidates with less than 1% of the total votes.
Maps
Results by vote share
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References
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