Women in Korean Politics by Chunghee Sarah Soh

Author:Chunghee Sarah Soh [Soh, Chunghee Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, World, Asian, Social Science, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781000011210
Google: h55EEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2021-12-24T17:13:24+00:00

Regional Roots

It was noted earlier that the urban constituency-cum-opposition party and rural constituency-cum-ruling party came to be regarded as the general formula for winning National Assembly elections. The assumption behind the theory is that since the ruling party is in a better financial position to support their candidates, the ruling party candidates often win votes by offering their electors various material gifts, and that it is easier to influence the rural voters in this fashion. It is believed that better-educated urban voters tend to be more critical of the ruling party than rural electors, who tend to cast their votes in exchange for personal favors received from their candidates.

However, the combinations of party affiliation and electoral district of the women legislators of the postrevolution era were the complete opposites of the generally accepted formula for election success. Kim Ok-son and Kim Yun-dok, both of whom belonged to the opposition party, were given rural districts. Kim Chong-rye, as a member of the ruling party, confronted an urban constituency in Seoul. Their cases suggest that even though there is no legal requirement for the residency of the candidates in their constituencies, the regional roots of the candidates in their constituencies is an important ingredient for success and can be powerful enough to overcome an adverse combination of constituency and party affiliation.

Kim Ok-son was a native of Ch'ungch'ong province. By the time she won election as an opposition party candidate in a rural district of Ch'ungch'ong, she had worked hard for more than a decade to improve the social welfare and education of the people of Ch'ungch'ong by building schools, churches, and a home for war-stricken widows and orphans. To many of her constituents, Kim Ok-son was seen as a benevolent leader working singlemindedly for the welfare of the people of her hometown region. The members of her clan and those people who benefited from her work (such as widows, orphans, students, and members of her churches) expressed their appreciation by campaigning vigorously to bring her victory. Her first two candidacies as an independent were unsuccessful, largely due to her lack of experience in politics. By the time she ran for the third time in 1967, however, Kim Ok-son had acquired firm local support, the endorsement of a major political party, and sufficient political savvy to wage a year-long legal battle to claim her victory over the election rigging of her rival candidate from the ruling party.

Kim Yun-dok, as a native of Cholla province, had the advantage of running in a constituency in Cholla province (Naju and Kwangsan) that included her husband's hometown. However, the combination of her opposition-party affiliation and a rural constituency was regarded as an obstacle to winning the race. Kim Yun-dok's blunt statements, "Pak Sun-ch'on and Yim Yong-sin did it with ease" and "my political career as a female member of the opposition party was the way of the Cross," may be understood as testimony to the tremendous difficulties a woman without a presidential connection has to face to pursue a political career in the opposition camp, especially in the postrevolution era.

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