After MB Comes Park Geun-hye, and After Park Geun-hye? ... The 'Second-in-Command' Is a Burden Whether Too Strong or Absent

[Planning] 1 Year 6 Months Until the 20th Presidential Election, The President and the Number Two (中)... Lee Myung-bak Who Met a Too Strong Number Two, Park Geun-hye Who Did Not Raise a Successor

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min]

Editor's NoteThe 20th presidential election scheduled for March 9, 2022, is now just a year and a half away. In Korean political history, the relationship between the incumbent president and the ruling party's presidential candidate is the focal point of interest. It is a burden for the president whether too much political power is concentrated too early on the next presidential candidate or not enough. We analyze the relationship between the president and the second-in-command, and the 2022 presidential election dynamics based on this, in three parts.

President Park Geun-hye (Photo by Yonhap News)

"I felt a heartbreaking pain... I was deceived. The people were deceived too." On March 23, 2008, Park Geun-hye, then a Grand National Party (GNP) lawmaker, said this at a press conference in the National Assembly's press center. It was a direct criticism of the 'Pro-Park (Pro-Park Geun-hye) nomination massacre' issue.

At the time, the criticism was analyzed as targeting not only Kang Jae-seop, the GNP leader and head of the ruling party, but also President Lee Myung-bak (MB). This occurred just one month after President Lee took office.

The situation where the 'major shareholder' within the GNP directly fired at the incumbent president symbolized the power dynamics of the ruling party during the 'MB era.' In reality, politician Park Geun-hye acted as the opposition within the ruling party, checking President Lee's administration. The figure of politician Park Geun-hye, who was strongly mentioned as the next presidential candidate, inevitably became a political burden for President Lee.

Professor Lee Jun-han of the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Incheon National University stated, "(In Korean politics) the succeeding president has overturned what the predecessor did during their term and even sent them to prison," adding, "(Politically) he must have felt threatened and approached with anxiety."

Archive photo / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

In fact, the two were political rivals. Their special relationship dates back to 2007, the most intense presidential candidate primary in the history of conservative parties. The GNP convention held on August 20, 2007, at the Seoul Olympic Gymnastics Arena was the event to decide the next presidential candidate. At that time, the equation 'GNP presidential candidate = presidential victory' was so strong that public opinion heavily favored this notion.

Although Lee Myung-bak won the primary, Park Geun-hye led in the delegate vote. Park received 64,648 votes (49.39%) from the delegates, while Lee received 64,216 votes (49.06%). Lee led in the opinion poll primary, which overturned the results, but the outcome remained uncertain until the end.

Although politician Park Geun-hye lost the presidential primary at that time, she was effectively considered to have reserved the 2012 presidential candidate position. Ahead of the 2012 presidential election, President Lee tried to nurture several politicians, but the balance of power had already shifted toward the ruling party heavyweight (Park Geun-hye). This tendency became even clearer in 2012, one year before President Lee's term ended. In the April 2012 19th general election, many pro-Lee (Pro-Lee Myung-bak) key figures close to the president were eliminated from nominations.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

While President Lee experienced political hardships meeting a strong second-in-command, during President Park Geun-hye's era, the problem was the lack of a clear second-in-command in the ruling party's political power. Like her father, former President Park Chung-hee, President Park showed a tendency not to cultivate a second-in-command. She pursued a Blue House-centered state administration and tried to seize control of the political situation but exposed vulnerability in managing 'political risks.'

When the 'Choi Soon-sil scandal' broke out, the political situation plunged into turmoil. On December 9, 2016, 234 lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties, including Saenuri Party members, passed the 'impeachment motion,' effectively forcing President Park to relinquish her status as head of state. The Constitutional Court's impeachment decision led to an early presidential election on May 9, 2017, but the Saenuri Party had no suitable alternatives.

From the perspective of the relationship between the president and the second-in-command, Presidents Lee and Park experienced completely opposite situations. Politically, having a strong second-in-command nearby is as burdensome as lacking a successor responsible for the future. If the opposition party takes over the government, the president's state philosophy inevitably faces discontinuity. Maintaining political influence even after retirement is a rare scene in Korean politics.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.