"Obsolete and narrow-minded" were the words former UN chief Ban Ki-moon had for Korean
politicians... as he dropped out of the presidential race yesterday... to the surprise of many.
Our parliamentary correspondent Ji Myung-kil is in the studio.
Myung-kil, what do make out of Ban's move?
Right...
I was following former UN chief Ban Ki-moon the whole day as he met with leaders of the
political parties... and in the afternoon, when I was sitting in the Assembly's briefing
room,...
Ban suddenely appeared... and I remember looking at the other reporters,... thinking, "why
is he here?"... and that's when the announcement was made.
And of course... right after that we had immediate reactions from the political parties.
The two conservative parties who were trying to lure Ban were dumbfounded.
And the liberals,... maybe a sigh of relief?
But expressed respect for Ban's decision.
In his speech yesterday,... we could sense a great deal of disappointment on Ban's part.
He said he had "pure motives" and wanted to bring about change in Korea using the experiences
he had as the UN chief.
But he said he was downplayed and mocked by the media,... which he said was sad.
So, at this point, who is likely to be in presidential race, Myung-kil?
We do have more possible contenders waiting in the wings.
I had lunch with one lawmaker yesterday who is also thinking about running... but let
me just tell you:...
On the conservative side, for the ruling Saenuri Party... we don't have an obvious candidate
yet... but there are rumors that they might try to recruit the current Acting President
and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn.
As for the splinter conservative...
Bareun Party... we have Yoo Seong-min... who officially declared last week and Nam Kyung-pil,
Gyeonggi-do province governor.
On the liberal side... there's the former chief of the main opposition Democratic Party
of Korea Moon Jae-in... then there's An Hee-jung, the current governor of Chungcheongnam-do
province, and Lee Jae-myung, the current mayor of Seongnam.
And for the minor opposition parties... the People's Party has Ahn Cheol-soo, the former
business tycoon, and for the Justice Party, there's chairwoman Sim Sang-jeung.
Ban Ki-moon had been considered a relatively strong contender had he gone through with
his presidential bid.
But now that he's out... what do the chances look like for the others?
Well,... if we look at recent polls,... Moon Jae-in is in the lead among all presidential
hopefuls, with support above 30 percent.
He's followed by Hwang Kyo-ahn...
An Hee-jung...
Lee Jae-myung...
Ahn Cheol-soo and so forth.
Having Ban out of the race has created momentum for the liberals.
The ones who stand to gain are An Hee-jung and Ahn Cheol-soo.
That's because Ban's supporters were largely either from the western Chungcheong-do Provinces,
where An Hee-jung is governor, or were conservative voters looking for an alternative to the Saenuri
Party, which is where Ahn Cheol-soo comes in.
Pundits say that with no powerful alternative to represent the conservative camp... the
election may turn into a race between the opposition and the opposition.
As I said, Hwang Kyo-ahn, the acting president, is being tipped by many for a bid on a conservative
ticket, but he's neither confirmed or denied it.
Hwang is seen as the number two guy under President Park Geun-hye and thus sharing responsibility
for her failures.
So some Ban supporters who wanted political reform may avoid him.
Right Myung-kil, Thank-you for that insight.
Do keep us updated.
Sure.