Former IT guru`s popularity sweeps Korean political scene

Former IT guru`s popularity sweeps Korean political scene. July. 23, 2012 23:24. peacechaos@donga.com journari@donga.co.

The fever created by the book and a talk show by Ahn Cheol-soo, dean of the Seoul National University School of Convergence Science and Technology and leading potential contender for the opposition in the presidential election, is sweeping Korean politics.

At a time when his book “Ahn Cheol-soo’s Thoughts,” which is effectively considered a compilation of his election pledges, is selling like hotcakes, he appeared on a TV entertainment talk show that added to the momentum, heralding a looming reshuffle in the political circle, analysts say.

The main opposition Democratic United Party is seized with Ahn fever. The party started its long journey of its presidential primary starting with a joint broadcast forum of its primary Monday, but hardly displayed a sense of gravity from the starting point in the face of Ahn’s dominance.

The gap in weight between the party’s contenders and Ahn is also verified by numbers and figures. The party is scheduled to hold four joint speeches and five broadcast forums through Saturday to hold its primary, but even the combined number of participants in the speeches and broadcast forums will hardly match the number of viewers of the entertainment talk show featuring Ahn, which aired Monday.

The book “Fate” by Rep. Moon Jae-in, the party’s presidential hopeful with the highest approval rating among its contenders, has been sold 230,000 copies through Monday since its release in June last year. In comparison, 40,000 copies of Ahn’s book were sold on the first day of release alone, and an estimated 150,000 copies have been sold. If this pace continues, sales of Ahn’s book are expected to surpass those of Moon’s book in just a week.

The liberal party`s presidential hopefuls have also expressed a sense of crisis en masse. On the recruitment of Ahn as his party’s presidential candidate, Rep. Kim Young-hwan said in a media interview Monday, “The situation is very grave on the part of the Democratic United Party.”

Kim Jeong-gil, former government administration and domestic affairs minister, said, “The Democratic United Party’s primary for its presidential candidate itself gives the impression of a minor league.”

The ruling Saenuri Party also seems nervous over Ahn’s sudden rise. Rep. Park Geun-hye, who has been considered unrivaled as the party`s candidate for the presidential election, has had her dominance wane to an extent in the wake of Ahn fever that swept at the by-election for Seoul mayor in October last year.

A Democratic United Party source said, “Though Rep. Park enjoys a broad consensus of her dominance, she has a weakness in the expandability of votes supporting her compared with Ahn,” adding, “If Ahn continues to enjoy growth in his approval rating, Rep. Park could see her approval rating limited to the 40-percent level.”

Ahn’s book and his appearance on the TV show "Healing Camp, Isn`t It Happy" are expected to generate a synergistic effect and sway domestic politics for some time. The show demonstrated its impact when it featured Park and Moon in succession.

Viewership hit 12.2 percent (AGB Nielson Media Research) Jan. 2 when Park appeared and 10.5 percent Jan. 9 when Moon showed up. Notably, Moon saw his approval rating surge soon after his appearance in the show.

In the Healing Camp show, Ahn focused on displaying his friendly character by reading love letters he exchanged with his wife while serving in the military and presenting images of him serving morning coffee to her at home.

On the media considering him a “politician,” he said, “I`ve never said anything with hidden intentions, but media outlets have imagined my hidden intentions.” Asked if he will run for president, he answered, “Do I have the capacity and qualification?”