ROK READY FOR A WOMAN PRESIDENT?

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 002788 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/19/2011 TAGS: PGOV KS SUBJECT: ROK READY FOR A WOMAN PRESIDENT? REF: SEOUL 2392 Classified By: 17/DCM Joseph Y. Yun. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: With the ruling Uri Party utterly out of public favor, South Koreans await the 2007 presidential race with great anticipation. Among the candidates, Park Geun-hye, former chairwoman of the Grand National Party and the one of the leading presidential hopefuls, has a shot at becoming the first female President of the ROK. A more gender-conscious society and positive perceptions of women in the political arena indicate that the prospect for a female president in Korea has never been better. It remains to be seen whether such favorable prospects will win out in the political jockeying to take place in the months leading up to the election. END SUMMARY WOMEN IN POLITICS -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Today, more and more Korean women are making their mark in the political arena. In April 2006, Han Myung-sook, a former lawmaker and cabinet level minister, made history by becoming the ROK's first female Prime Minister (Reftel). While the current administration would like to take the credit for such progressiveness, women's presence in politics has been long in the making. Kim Dae-Jung (KDJ) was the first president who actively sought to bring greater numbers of women into executive level political positions. In 1999, the KDJ administration passed the Political Party Act, which states that at least 50 percent of candidates who are appointed via proportional representation (PR) must be women. Overall, 13 percent (or 38 representatives) of the 17th National Assembly, which started in Spring 2002, is female. This is a significant and important increase from the five percent of the previous Assembly. ¶3. (SBU) Most female politicians are elected to office through the proportional representation system. The PR candidates are voted into office based on the number of votes their party gets, and thus must only obtain their party's nomination, indicating that women are often not direct recipients of the voters' mandate. Of the 38 female lawmakers in the National Assembly, 10 were elected by simple majority representation and 28 were granted a seat through proportional representation. According to data from the League of Women Voters, during the May 31 regional elections, 73 percent of women candidates elected to City Council positions were elected via PR. The simple majority representation system elected a mere five percent. ¶4. (SBU) In general, women politicians have better success in elections at the local level. To date, however, no woman has been elected to the position of city mayor. Despite significant public appeal, the former Minister of Justice, Kang Kum-shil lost badly in the race for Seoul city mayor in May, a loss attributed largely to the ruling Uri Party's plummeting popularity. The upcoming December 2007 presidential elections will be a testing ground to see whether women have secured a definitive place in South Korean politics. HER FATHER'S DAUGHTER? PARK GEUN-HYE -------------- ¶5. (C) Park Geun-hye has benefited greatly from her father's legacy. Older generations of Koreans who experienced Park Chung-hee's authoritarian rule from 1960 to 1979 may recall the former President as an anti-democratic, human rights abuser who imprisoned and tortured thousands of activists. However, these days most people remember Park as a great president who masterminded the "Han miracle," the export-led industrial growth that promoted South Korea to the ranks of the richest countries in the world. Park, surprisingly and consistently, ranks first in polls that ask people who they think was the best Korean President. Kim Won-hong, a researcher at Korea Women's Development Institute (KWDI),a state-funded organization, told poloff on August 1 that, "Those who envision a woman president for Korea look to the precedents set by Southeast Asian female leaders such as the Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri who are also daughters of former Presidents." ¶6. (C) Although Park Chung-hee's legacy has been the catalyst for Park Geun-hye's popularity, she has her own list of accomplishments too. After her mother was assassinated in 1974, Park, who was twenty-two at the time, carried out the duties of First Lady. In addition, Park is respected for her leadership skills and credited with bringing the nearly-dead GNP back to life as GNP Chairwoman from 2004 to 2006. Kim Won-hong of KWDI also remarked, "While Park is viewed as her father's daughter first and a as a woman second and she does not enjoy the kind of support that Roh received from his 386 generation supporters, her image as a charismatic leader, her past role as First Lady, and her father's legacy make her a viable candidate." (NOTE: 386 generation refers to those who are in their 30s, were born in the 60s, and attended college in the 80s. This generation was instrumental in creating a powerful support base for President Roh Moo-hyun. END NOTE.) ¶7. (C) Today, Korean women are entering the public arena in unprecedented numbers, suggesting that the ROK is slowly breaking away from its Confucian-based male-centered culture (Reftel). Walter Paik, Park Geun-hye's close aide from the Yeouido Institute, a GNP think-tank said, "Korea is a rapidly changing society and the younger generation especially are open-minded to the prospect of a female President." When poloff asked whether South Korea could have a female President, Park Jin, a GNP lawmaker said, "Why not?" DIFFICULTIES REMAIN -------------- ¶8. (SBU) While social perceptions toward women have changed, old habits die hard in a society deeply rooted in Confucian notions. In April, senior GNP politician Rep. Choi Yeon-hee was accused of sexual harassment for fondling a female reporter's breast during a drinking session in February (Reftel). While female legislators led a movement to oust Choi from the Assembly, they have thus far been unsuccessful. ¶9. (C) Skeptics and opponents of Park Geun-hye point to their discomfort at having a woman as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, especially at a time when relations with North Korea are tense and armed conflict is never a far-fetched possibility. Choi Jae-chun, Uri Party lawmaker and former member of the Foreign Affairs Committee told poloff, "Although Park and Han could play important roles in policy making, they will not make it as presidential nominees because of the Korean people's overriding concerns about the Peninsula's security environment." COMMENT -------------- ¶10. (C) Park Geun-Hye has emerged as a legitimate and viable candidate for President, which in itself points to women's vastly improved political standing. With sixteen months to go before the election, Park's path to the presidency remains a long one, riddled with many hurdles, the first of which is to secure a victory in the party's primary race and grab the nomination. Not surprisingly, her chief rival in the GNP, former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak said that Korea was not ready for a woman president. On the other hand, in a summit meeting with Park Geun-hye last March, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reportedly flattered the GNP chairwoman with his remark that Korea may produce a female president ahead of Japan, another "win" in Korea's neverending race with its historic rival. END COMMENT STANTON