The official campaign period for next month's presidential election will start this week, with a majority of voters determined to end 10 years of liberal rule, despite lingering financial and ethical scandals surrounding the
conservative frontrunner, Lee Myung-bak.
The number of presidential candidates will set a new record this year, with nine registered with the National Election Commission on Sunday and eight more expected to register during the second and last day of the registration period, commission officials said. The number far outweighs the eight each registered
in 1987 and 1992. Seven candidates ran each for 1997 and 2002.
Unlike past presidential elections that have been traditionally neck and neck between liberals and conservatives, this year's race is characterized by the latter's overwhelming lead amid low public
opinion of President Roh Moo-hyun.
Lee Myung-bak, former Seoul mayor and the Grand National Party candidate, commanded around 40 percent of support according to media polls, some 20 percentage points ahead of his only close rival, Lee Hoi-chang, who is more openly conservative than the former mayor.
Lee Hoi-chang, former GNP chairman and Supreme Court justice who unsuccessfully ran for president on the GNP ticket in 1997 and 2002, launched his third bid as an independent early this month, criticizing Lee Myung-bak's 'soft' approach toward North Korea and claiming to be the authentic heir to South Korea's conservative legacy.
All liberal candidates remained down in the polls, after their 10-year rule under Roh and his predecessor, Kim Dae-jung. Chung Dong-young, former unification minister and candidate of the pro-government United New Democratic Party, ranked third in the polls with support a little over 10 percent, followed by Moon
Kook-hyun, former CEO of health equipment producer Yuhan Kimberly Co., who garnered single-digit support.
A high-stakes announcement by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office was due on Dec. 5, following its investigation into a stock manipulation scam and the top candidate's alleged involvement. Lee has denied his role, but the key suspect, Korean-American Kim Kyung-joon, has claimed Lee was as responsible for the scam as himself, saying Lee had full ownership of an investment firm that Kim used to rig the shares and embezzle about 38.4 billion won ($41.9 million) in corporate funds in 2001.
Some experts, however, consider any big announcement from the prosecution to be unlikely just weeks before the election. They cite difficulties to present evidence to prove that Lee participated in the share-rigging, even though he could be found to have owned the firm.
"The prosecution may come up with some results of its investigation, but I don't think the prosecution will be bold enough to shatter the current race," Lee Young-myoung, a political scientist at Hallym University, said.
Absentee voting will be held on Dec. 13-14. Pollsters are banned from releasing the outcome of public surveys conducted after Dec. 13.