제 18대 한국 대통령 선거일 (2012년) | 해외에서 거주하며 바라본 시각

제 18대 한국 대통령 선거일 (2012년)

 

한국 - 제 18대 대통령 선거일

 

12월 19일. 오늘은 한국의 제 18대 대통령 선거일이다.

 

어제 운동 가서 CNN 보니까 한국 대통령 선거를 꽤 비중 있게 다루더라. 오늘 BBC와 The Wall Street Journal 홈페이지를 보니 이곳들에서도 메인에 한국 대통령 선거 기사를 띄웠다.

 

 

 

BBC

 

 

 

 

The Wall Street Journal

 

 

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그리고 아래 기사는 BBC 기사.

 

19 December 2012 Last updated at 02:46 GMT

 

South Koreans vote in tightly-fought presidential poll

 

 

Park Geun-hye is seeking to become South Korea's first female leader

 

 

 

 

Mr Moon says if people want change they need to cast their ballots

 

 

 

Continue reading the main story

 

Millions of South Koreans are casting ballots in a presidential election seen as too close to call.

 

Park Geun-hye of the governing Saenuri party is looking to make history as South Korea's first female president.

 

But she faces a tough challenge from Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party, who has been steadily eroding her lead in the polls.

 

Whoever wins will replace President Lee Myung-bak, who is stepping down, as the law requires, after his five-year term.

 

Economic issues including welfare provision and job creation have dominated campaigning.

 

 

 

'New era'

 

Polls opened at 06:00 (21:00GMT) and close 12 hours later. Three television stations will release joint exit polls when voting closes, with formal results expected early on Thursday.

 

Three hours in, polling was brisk with turnout at 11.6% - up from 9.4% at the same point in the previous election, Yonhap news agency said.

 

 

 

Continue reading the main story

 

A national holiday has been declared so people can cast their ballots.

 

"Though it's cold today, I hope you will take part in the voting and open up a new era that every one of you has yearned for," Ms Park said after voting in Seoul.

 

Park Geun-hye is the daughter of former military ruler General Park Chung-hee, a polarising figure credited with transforming South Korea into an economic success story during his 1961-1979 rule, but accused of ruthlessly crushing dissent.

 

Both Ms Park's parents were assassinated - her mother in 1974 by a pro-North Korea gunman and her father in 1979 by his own spy chief.

 

Ms Park, 60, who in September apologised for human rights abuses during her father's era, said on Tuesday she would be "a president of the people's livelihoods, who thinks only about the people".

 

"I will restore the broken middle class and open an era in which the middle class make up 70% of the population," she said in a news conference at her party's headquarters in Seoul.

 

Mr Moon, a former human rights lawyer, was once jailed for protesting against General Park's regime.

He was a chief of staff to Mr Lee's predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, who killed himself in 2009 while under investigation for corruption.

 

In his news conference, Mr Moon pointed to the current corruption and incompetency allegations surrounding Ms Park's own party.

 

"This overall crisis... will not be resolved by replacing the representative player. We must change the entire team," the 59-year-old said.

 

Casting his ballot on Wednesday, he appealed for voters to turn out. "If you have been unsatisfied over the last five years, please change the world with your votes," he said.

 

For all their differences, the two candidates have put forward remarkably similar policies, the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul says.

 

They have both promised to boost social welfare spending, close the gap between the rich and poor and rein in the country's family-run giant conglomerates, known as chaebol.

 

On the issue of North Korea, which has not featured heavily in the campaign despite its recent rocket launch, both candidates have promised more engagement with Pyongyang - though, in Ms Park's case, more cautiously than her rival.

 

Our correspondent says the electorate appears to be more engaged than usual, with one recent poll suggested more than 80% of voters are planning to cast their ballots South Korea uses a first-past-the-post system, and so the candidate with the most votes will become president.

 

(출처 : http://www.bbc.co.uk/)

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이번 선거는 참 흥미롭다. 

 

투표율도 높고, 국민들의 관심도도 어느 때보다 높다.

 

그리고, 이제 국민들만 생각하는 정치를 하겠다고 나선, 약 50년 전 18년간이나 대통령직을 맡았던 분의 딸인 기호 1번 박근혜 후보와 대통령 후보가 될 때까지 노무현 정신을 계승하겠다고 밝혔던 기호 2번 문재인 후보의 계보는 참으로 상반된 것이다. (물론 문재인 후보는 또 얼마 전 노무현 대통령의 비서실장을 역임했던 일이 가장 후회스러운 일이라고 말하긴 했지만)

 

그러나 두 후보가 내세우고 있는 정치적 비전은 경제와 사회복지 및 일자리 창출. 계보는 다르지만 같은 비전을 이야기하고 있다는 점.

 

선거 결과는 아직 모른다.

 

다만, 이 시대와 미래를 살릴 제대로 된 지도자가 한국에 세워지길 바란다.

 

19 Dec 2012