Gathered for a single purpose, to secure the next government, thousands of ruling Saenuri Party members and supporters at KINTEX in Ilsan hoisted former chairwoman Park Geun-hye as their presidential candidate on Monday.

In a much-anticipated landslide win, Park won a whopping 86,589 votes cast by party delegates and citizens. It is 83.9 percent of the entire votes, the highest support to a single candidate to date.

Kim Moon-soo was runner-up with 8,955 votes, followed by Kim Tae-ho, Yim Tae-hee and Ahn Sang-soo.

The outcome has long been a no-brainer with Park vastly outpacing the four other contenders throughout the month-long primary race.

The national caucus was still animated and grandiose, spiked by the excitement of party members as they envisioned Park standing on the next podium as president.

“I will take on the road toward people’s grand integration that goes beyond (the division over) ideology, class, region and generation, and beyond (the eras of) industrialization and democratization,” Park said in her acceptance speech.

In a determined voice, Park vowed to eradicate corruption such as by introducing a special investigation system for allegations surrounding families and associates of a president.

Mindful of the escalating criticism surrounding the latest cash-for-nomination scandal, Park also pledged to create a “politics reform body” inside the party to be made up of experts from in and outside the party.

Vowing to balance growth and welfare, Park said she would take the first steps toward economic democratization and create jobs.

On the diplomatic front, she pledged to “prepare a new framework for sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula and cooperation of East Asia.”

Supported by conglomerates that built their empires since the era of Park’s late father and former President Park Chung-hee, and flanked by conservative supporters, Park aims to become the first woman president in Korean history. She is also the first child of a former president to become a presidential nominee.

Park has described her political career as destiny: to help solve the pains and difficulties faced by the people.

Emphasizing “principle” as the key philosophy, Park has adopted a progressive stance on social and economic policies in hopes of winning younger and moderate votes, while pledging to break the ice with North Korea but maintaining no-tolerance policy on Pyongyang’s nuclear ambition.

At a press conference after the convention, Park said she plans to exert sincere efforts for diplomatic relations with other countries, possibly including meetings with national leaders if possible during her campaign.

With regard to the intensifying diplomatic row between South Korea and Japan over Dokdo, Park said, “This is something that can be solved so simply: by Japan admitting how Dokdo is Korean territory.”

Park faces tough challenges ahead, namely against popular software mogul-turned-professor Ahn Cheol-soo, who has become the game changer of the Dec. 19 presidential election.

The main opposition Democratic United Party is also bracing for a heated run-off with Park, hopefully with the participation of Ahn. A final DUP candidate is to be named in September.

For the next four months, the Saenuri leadership is expected to focus on rallying in-party forces for successful presidential election.

The opposition is expected to intensify the attacks against Park’s family background as well as her leadership style which is criticized as being “stubborn.”

Political observers said the upcoming presidential race will be a competition between the old politics versus the new, as the contenders compete on the platform of realizing a welfare state with economic democratization.

By Lee Joo-hee
(jhl@heraldcorp.com)

<관련 한글 기사>

박근혜 새누리당 대선후보로 확정

박근혜 전 비상대책위원장이 12월19일 18대 대통령선거에 나설 새누리당 후보로 선출됐다.

새누리당은 20일 오후 경기도 일산 킨텍스에서 전당대회를 열고 선거인단 투표(80%)와 일반국민 여론조사(20%)에서 압도적 1위를 한 박 전 위원장을 대선 후보로 공식 지명했다.

박 후보는 전체 유효투표의 84%인 8만6천589표를 얻었다. 이는 국민참여 선거인 단 득표수와 여론조사 지지율을 환산한 득표수를 합산한 수치다.

박 후보의 득표율은 새누리당 전신인 한나라당을 포함해 역대 대선 경선 역사상 최고 기록이다. 기존의 최다 득표율 기록은 지난 2002년 당시 이회창 후보가 얻은 68%다.

박 후보는 당선 직후 수락연설을 통해 "국민대통합의 시대를 열어가겠다"면서 "이념과 계층, 지역과 세대를 넘어, 산업화와 민주화를 넘어 모두가 함께 가는 국민 대통합의 길을 가겠다"고 밝혔다.

박 후보에 이어 김문수 경기지사가 8.7%인 8천955표를 얻어 2위를 차지했으며 김태호 의원(3.2%ㆍ3천298표), 임태희 전 대통령실장(2.6%ㆍ2천676표), 안상수 전 인천시장(1.6%ㆍ1천600표)이 그 뒤를 이었다.

비박(非朴ㆍ비박근혜) 4인을 큰 표차로 물리친 박 후보는 대권 재수 만에 본선에 진출하는 것이자 우리나라 정당 역사상 유력 정당의 첫 여성 후보가 됐다.  대선 구도 역시 기존의 단순한 여야 대결을 넘어 처음으로 `여성 대 남성'의 성(性) 대결 구도를 띠게 됐다.

우리나라로서는 전직 대통령의 자녀가 대선 후보가 되는 첫 사례이기도 하다.

박 후보는 앞으로 야권 주자와 대권을 놓고 명운을 건 한 판 승부를 벌이게 됐다.

민주통합당은 현재 문재인 손학규 김두관 정세균 박준영 후보 5인이 대권후보 경쟁을 벌이고 있다. 민주당은 오는 25일 제주를 시작으로 내달 16일까지 13개 권역을 도는 순회경선을 실시해 후보를 확정할 계획이지만 50% 이상 득표하는 후보가 나 오지 않을 경우 내달 18일부터 23일까지 1ㆍ2위 후보간 결선투표를 진행할 예정이다.

범야권의 가장 강력한 주자인 안철수 서울대 융학과학기술대학원장은 현재 출마를 위한 몸풀기를 하고 있는 상태다.

민주당 후보와 안 원장이 각자 제 갈을 가느냐 아니면 단일화하느냐, 단일화할 경우 야권 단일후보가 누가 되느냐에 따라 대선판은 요동칠 것으로 예상된다.