12 Presidential Candidates Go on the Stump

12 Presidential Candidates Go on the Stump

Candidate registration for the 17th presidential election closed on Monday with a total of 12 candidates registering for the Dec. 19 ballot. The order of candidates' names printed on the ballot papers was determined based on the number of parliamentary seats of each party. Chung Dong-young of the United New Democratic Party will therefore be no. 1 on the ballots, Lee Myung-bak of the Grand National Party no. 2, Kwon Young-ghil of the Democratic Labor Party no. 3, Rhee In-je of the Democratic Party no. 4, Sim Dae-pyong of the People First Party no. 5, Moon Kook-hyun of the Creative Korea Party no. 6, Chung Kun-mo of the True Owner Coalition no. 7, Huh Kyoung-young of the Republican Party no. 8, Chun Kwan of Chamsaram Society Full True Act no. 9, Geum Min of the Korea Socialist Party no. 10, Lee Soo-sung of the People’s Coalition for Unity and Advance no. 11, and independent and twice-defeated presidential candidate Lee Hoi-chang no. 12. The official 22-day campaign started at midnight Tuesday. Major candidates had carefully scheduled their first stump for maximum impact. Lee Myung-bak chose a market as his first stumping tour destination. The moment the formal campaign started at 00:00 a.m., he was at Dongdaemun Market with his campaign catchphrases "Era of Successful People" and "Working President." GNP spokeswoman Na Kyung-won said Lee “is going to focus on low-income people, the economy, meeting ordinary people and being a working president." Lee Hoi-chang hopes to appeal to traditional conservatives with a visit to the National Cemetery in Seoul, his slogan being "Upright Lee Hoi-chang, Upright Republic of Korea!" on the stump, he will meet low-income people at various sites to stress his focus on the underprivileged. Chung Dong-young watched the result of Yeosu's World Expo bid at 00:00 on Tuesday to boost his image as a "peace and economy president." He started his stumping tour schedule at Dorasan Station in the morning. His campaign catchphrases are "Equitable Growth" and "Era of Happy Families." At 2 p.m. the same day, his campaign committee will meet before he goes to Daejeon Station. In the evening, he will join a "hug me" campaign in Myeong-dong, Seoul. Moon Kook-hyun plans to go on the stump at the Guro Digital Complex and near Yonsei University in Seoul. Kwon Young-ghil will start his campaign at a superstore in Seoul at the center of a labor dispute involving non-regular workers. Rhee In-je also began his schedule by watching the result of Yeosu's World Expo bid, and Sim Dae-pyong will start his campaign at Daejeon Station. The formal campaign will end at 12:00 midnight on Dec. 18. (englishnews@chosun.com )