New Mayor of Seoul (Correction) & Some Thoughts on the Election and Korea

Image Source: Chosun Ilbo

Turns out that Han Myeong Sook did not win the Seoul mayoral election as I was told late last night and wrote in an earlier post. As the final count came in, the defending mayor Oh Se-hoon held on to his job by a mere 0.6 points.

Although the Grand National Party was able to keep its seat of Seoul, it did not go so well for the party elsewhere. The New York Times reports that: "the president’s party won only 6 of 16 crucial races to elect mayors and governors in big cities and provinces in the voting on Wednesday. Its main rival, the opposition Democratic Party, won seven races. The remaining three races were won by independents and a candidate from a small opposition party."

It would seem that the South Korean people are not in agreement with the current president's hard handed stance towards North Korea, feeling that it only escalates tension between the two Koreas. Mike Chinoy explains that the sinking of the Cheonan (if it was indeed caused by North Korea) is in part because of the current South Korean president, Lee:

The most plausible explanation of the sinking of the naval ship Cheonan fits this pattern. The incident occurred after the conservative Lee, upon taking office in 2008, repudiated an accord signed by his liberal predecessor Roh Moo-hyun in October 2007 aimed at creating a “joint fishing zone” and establishing military confidence-building measures in the disputed waters off the western coast of Korea. A series of tense naval encounters eventually led to a clash last November in which the South Korean navy set a North Korean ship on fire and killed at least one of its sailors.

Soon after, Kim visited a naval base and ordered the navy to “raise heroes for do-or-die squads at sea.” The attack in March on the Cheonan, in all likelihood, was North Korea settling the score.

The solution, according to Chinoy, is for America and South Korea to sit down to talks with the North Korean dictator. Instead of more sanctions -- which have proved pretty useless at softening the North -- dialogue is the solution:

[T]here is little evidence to suggest that sanctions and coercion work with the North Koreans. A careful look at patterns of North Korean behavior over the past two decades shows that Pyongyang’s response when pushed is almost always to push back harder.

I tend to agree with Chinoy that talks, rather than stubbornness, is a better tactic. Either a soft approach -- the infamous "Sunshine Policy" -- or full out war. Take your pick. But not this adolescent chest pushing that's going on.

But then again, what do I know about politics?