[Inside Chodong] Presidential Candidates and the Politics of Abandonment

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] Won Hee-ryong, Governor of Jeju Province, will step down from his position on the 11th. From midnight on the 12th, Jeju Province will be operated under the authority of the acting Deputy Governor. It is a politically lightening decision for a presidential candidate to step down from the position of a metropolitan local government head.

He can put down the burden of provincial administration and fully embark on his presidential campaign. Governor Won's resignation is a kind of last-ditch effort that stirs up turmoil in the opposition party's presidential race. It is a message that he is blocking political retreat and betting on winning this presidential election.

Governor Won participated in the 2007 Grand National Party presidential primary and ranked up to third place. Unlike minor opposition candidates who threw their hats in the ring for the 2022 presidential election to raise their political value, Governor Won is in a different league. To show his distinctiveness, he needed a shock therapy. The problem lies in the nature of the ‘politics of abandonment,’ where both political tactics and self-inflicted setbacks are possible.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Du-kwan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, experienced a harsh backlash after choosing to resign as Governor of Gyeongnam Province in 2012. On July 6, 2012, he said, "I am embarking on a difficult journey with the spirit of a general who cuts off retreat and makes a last stand," and resigned from the governorship of Gyeongnam Province.

He made a bold move to shake up the Democratic United Party's presidential race, but it ultimately turned out to be a self-inflicted setback. Party members who were strongly attached to the political symbolism of having a Democratic Party-affiliated governor in Gyeongnam were shocked. The Democratic Party lost to the Saenuri Party in the Gyeongnam gubernatorial by-election held alongside the presidential election on December 19, 2012.

For Democratic Party members who remember the shockwave of 2012, the decision of a provincial governor to step down ahead of the presidential election is a sensitive issue. This is why the recent controversy over urging Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, to resign has become a ‘powder keg’ for the ruling party.

The spark of the controversy was ignited by Lee Sang-min, the party’s election management committee chairman. In a radio interview on the 5th, Chairman Lee said, "There are many restrictions on campaigning as a governor," expressing his hope that the Governor of Gyeonggi Province would resign. It was a mistake for a person responsible for the fairness of election management to get involved in political disputes.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to Article 53 of the Public Official Election Act, if a metropolitan or provincial governor resigns by December 9, 90 days before the presidential election, they can run for president. The Democratic Party’s presidential candidate is expected to be decided by mid-October at the latest. If Lee wins the Democratic Party presidential primary, he can resign as governor before December 9; if he loses, he can continue to be responsible for Gyeonggi Province’s administration until June next year.

Will Democratic Party members welcome the revival of the nightmare spark from 2012 regarding the controversy over the resignation of the Gyeonggi Province governor? Or will they hope that things proceed according to political logic? If candidate Lee Nak-yeon wins the primary, the Democratic Party could hold the presidential election while retaining a Gyeonggi Province governor from their party. This is a political justification that the Lee Nak-yeon presidential campaign can appropriately utilize.

What if, when the election management committee chairman’s verbal blunder surfaced, the party had chosen ‘reverse thinking politics’? Instead of supporting the resignation theory of the Gyeonggi Province governor, what if the Lee Nak-yeon camp had demanded that the governor not throw away the position recklessly? It is intriguing to consider how Democratic Party members would have reacted. Wouldn’t it have been an opportunity to show that they are a magnanimous leader who reveals confidence in the ruling party primary while considering the future of the party?

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