The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles that try to capture the voter sentiment in key regions. The following is the second installment on Daejeon and its surrounding Chungcheong region. -- Ed.DAEJEON -- Daejeon, the nation’s fifth-largest city by population, is often clustered with the neighboring Sejong Administrative City and the surrounding Chungcheong provinces as the “middle ground” in national elections.
The term has a double meaning: the region is located inland, in between the Seoul-Gyeonggi metropolitan area and the southern parts of the country. It also tends to be relatively unbiased with no specific political tendency.
As a result of such neutrality, the Daejeon-Chuncheong cluster has often been deemed an ace in the hole for relatively centrist political aspirants, due to its large number of swing voters and weak party affiliation.
For the upcoming presidential election, slated for May 9, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party and Rep. Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea seem to have their eyes on this region for extra momentum.
A region largely underrepresented
The North and South Chungcheong provinces, Daejeon and Sejong City altogether accounted for some 10.5 percent of the nation’s entire population as of the end of March this year, data from the Interior Ministry showed.
In terms of representation and political leverage, however, the region has long seen itself as underestimated, receiving less attention than the progressive-leaning southwestern region and the conservative-leaning southeastern region, respectively dubbed Honam and Yeongnam.
The fact that none of the past presidents have had ties to the region was seen as the source of some complaints.
Speculations that former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon -- born in Eumseong, North Chungcheong Province -- might run for presidency had once heightened the expectations of voters in the region due to the chance at having “one of their own” in power.
After Ban announced he would not be running in February, it was South Chungcheong Gov. An Hee-jung of the Democratic Party of Korea who took the spotlight, but he, too, dropped out of the presidential race by failing to defeat Moon Jae-in in the party’s primary.
Sejong City, the key in local voter sentimentThe Daejeon-Sejong-Chungcheong belt nevertheless carries considerable weight in terms of government policy, embracing not only the Daedeok Science Complex but also a majority of the country’s administrative divisions.
The special administrative city of Sejong has increasingly been mentioned as a new location for the National Assembly or even the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
The newly built city was initiated by former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun as a comprehensive administrative capital in an effort to achieve balanced regional growth.
But amid persisting disputes and legal controversies, the blueprint was revised so as to relocate most of the administrative functions only.
The presidential candidate who presented the most radical development plan for Sejong City was Rep. An, who had pledged to redefine the city as the nation’s administrative capital and to relocate the legislature and presidential office.
Moon, who beat An to become the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, in contrast, said that he would move the Blue House to Gwanghwamun in central Seoul to promote communication with the public.
An’s drastic relocation pledge gained a warmer response from the administrative city, including its Mayor Lee Choon-hee who issued an official statement to appreciate An’s ideas.
Moon-Ahn rivalry to win over middle ground Nationwide, public opinions show that the race is likely to come down to a showdown between Moon and Ahn, with Moon cementing his lead beyond the margin of error.
Ahn Cheol-soo of the centrist People’s Party (Yonhap)
But in this region, the two appear to be neck and neck, with some poll results even showing Ahn in the lead.
A Realmeter survey, released Thursday, puts Ahn slightly ahead of Moon, with 37.7 percent of support against his 36.7 percent of support in the region. Nationwide, Moon is outpacing Ahn, with 43.8 percent of support compared to his 32.3 percent.
Another pollster Research & Research showed similar results, putting Ahn ahead at 35.8 percent against Moon’s 33.3 percent, while the nationwide trend is the opposite -- Moon at 40 percent and Ahn at 30.1 percent.
Gallup Korea offered a different picture with Moon’s support of 46 percent far surpassing Ahn’s 29 percent, and their nationwide standings at 41 percent and 30.1 percent, respectively.
Ahn has been appealing to the region’s voters who were let down by Ban and Gov. An.
“Daejeon is the birthplace of (the nation’s) political revolution, where I first started the Youth Concert and where the People’s Party celebrated its kickoff,” he said in Daejeon earlier this month after confirming his victory in his party’s primary.
“For me, Daejeon-Chungcheong is a land of promise, of victory, of future.”
He also underlined his affiliation with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, highlighting his past career as a medical doctor, IT expert and scholar.
Ahn’s tentative gestures to recruit former UN top official Ban to his camp were taken as an effort to further appeal to the Chungcheong region voters.
Housewife Kim Yoo-jeong, who was born and lived in Seoul before settling down in Sejong with her family four years ago, said there appears to be a big generational divide in voter sentiment.
“There are a lot of Moon supporters among the younger generation here, but among senior voters, there is the widespread notion that Moon is unfit to lead (because he is weak on security issues,” said the 38-year-old who also introduced herself as a Moon supporter.
“I think older voters would be deciding between Ahn and conservative candidates Hong Joon-pyo and Yoo Seong-min,” she said.
By Bae Hyun-jung (
tellme@heraldcorp.com)