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
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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
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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
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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