Wednesday, June 2, 2010
S. KOREA: S. Korea's Governing Party Surprised by Election
Published: June 2, 2010
SEOUL, South Korea — President Lee Myung-bak’s governing party suffered a surprising setback in local elections that had been widely viewed as a referendum on Mr. Lee’s handling of the sinking of a South Korean warship, according to election results released on Thursday.
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Times Topic: The Cheonan (Ship)
Candidates of Mr. Lee’s Grand National Party had hoped that outrage in South Korea over the sinking of the Cheonan, which led to the death of 46 South Korean sailors, would help them ride a conservative wave to a sweeping victory. Mr. Lee’s government has formally accused North Korea of attacking the ship with a torpedo from a submarine.
“The election results were far less than we had expected and hoped for,” Cho Hae-jin, a spokesman for the governing party, told reporters.
The party’s chairman, Chung Mong-joon, an important ally of Mr. Lee, said he was stepping down over the poor results.
Pre-election surveys showed that a majority of South Koreans blamed North Korea for the warship’s sinking, which the government characterized as the worst North Korean military provocation since the end of the Korean War. Many political analysts said that the president’s party, whose candidates had at one point faced tight races in some districts, appeared poised to sweep the most important races.
But the president’s party won only 6 of 16 crucial races to elect mayors and governors in big cities and provinces in the voting on Wednesday. Its main rival, the opposition Democratic Party, won seven races. The remaining three races were won by independents and a candidate from a small opposition party.
The mayor of Seoul, Oh Se-hoon, who is a member of Mr. Lee’s party, won re-election by a razor-thin margin. But in a hotly contested mayoral race in Incheon, a large port city west of Seoul, the opposition candidate, Song Young-gil, a vocal critic of Mr. Lee, won an unexpected victory. The ship’s sinking was an especially significant election issue there, because the ship went down in waters in Incheon’s jurisdiction.
Nationwide, about 9,900 candidates campaigned for 3,991 posts, including contests for mayor in small cities, as well as members of city councils and education chiefs. Opposition parties cast the balloting as a mid-term gauge of public support for Mr. Lee’s performance in general, his policies toward North Korea and his handling of the crisis over the sinking of the ship.
The voter turnout, 54.5 percent, was the highest for local elections in 15 years.
During the campaign, opposition politicians contended that Mr. Lee’s hard-line approach to North Korea, which ended a decade of improving ties with the reclusive and impoverished North, had helped provoke the North to lash out in an attack.
“This is the people’s verdict on Lee Myung-bak’s arrogance,” said Woo Sang-ho, a spokesman for the Democratic Party.
Chung Se-kyun, the leader of the Democratic Party, said the election results indicated that Mr. Lee should “abandon his confrontational policy on North Korea and ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.”
A version of this article appeared in print on June 3, 2010, on page A9 of the New York edition.
SHANGHAI, CHINA: World Cup adds a kick to Expo
With the FIFA World Cup around the corner, many Expo pavilions are preparing programs for viewing the matches. A circular screen wall has been installed in the South Africa Pavilion to broadcast key moments.
CHINA: China says no thanks to visit from U.S. defense chief
Thursday, June 3, 2010; A08
By Craig Whitlock
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates departed for Asia on Wednesday but had to drop a big country from his itinerary after China, still smarting over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, gave him the cold shoulder.
Gates had been hoping for months to visit Beijing this summer, a destination that took on added importance at the Pentagon after North Korea -- which sees China as its closest ally and diplomatic protector -- was accused last month of sinking a South Korean warship with a torpedo, killing 46 sailors.
Aides to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had confidently predicted that Gates would be able to go to Beijing after meetings she held there last month.
"I think you will see one of the take-aways over the course of the next couple of weeks, that suddenly Chinese friends might have time for Secretary Gates's visit," an official told reporters as Clinton flew back to Washington.
But Beijing declined to extend an invitation. Pentagon officials said no specific reason was given. But they said they assumed China was still annoyed by the Obama administration's announcement in January that it would approve $6.4 billion in arms sales to Taiwan.
Although U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are hardly new, they are considered a long-standing policy irritant by Beijing, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province. Beijing suspended military-to-military exchanges with Washington in 2007 after the Bush administration approved a separate set of arms sales to Taiwan.
Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Gates was frustrated by the Chinese response in both cases.
"He just doesn't believe that a relationship of this importance can exist in fits and starts," Morrell said. "It can't be derailed by bumps in the road that will inevitably come up."
China has cooled its military relationship with the Pentagon since January but has not cut ties entirely. Last month, Adm. Robert Willard, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, met Chinese counterparts in Beijing when he joined the delegation headed by Clinton.
The first stop on Gates's trip will be Singapore, where he will attend a regional security conference. Then he will travel to Baku, Azerbaijan, to try to fortify U.S. military supply routes to Afghanistan, many of which cross Central Asia. He will visit London to meet with leaders in the new British government, then stop in Brussels for talks with NATO allies.
JAPAN: Possible successors to Japan PM Hatoyama
Calls had built up in Hatoyama's Democratic Party for him to step down to revive the party's fortunes before an election for the upper house of parliament expected on July 11 that it must win to smooth policymaking.
Voter perceptions that Hatoyama has mishandled a row over the relocation of a U.S. airbase and lacks the ability to make tough decisions have slashed his support ratings to around 20 percent from above 70 percent when he first took office last September.
The following are possible successors and what they could mean for policy:
NAOTO KAN, 63
Finance Minister Kan, who doubles as deputy prime minister, is widely tipped as the likely successor. He has long been a senior figure in the party, having worked with Hatoyama and kingpin Ichiro Ozawa as the Democrats' top "troika".
Kan has in the past pressed the central bank to do more to fight deflation and has sounded more positive than Hatoyama about raising the 5 percent sales tax in the future to fund bulging social welfare costs.
Kan, who made his name battling bureaucrats when he was health minister, lacks deep expertise on budget and tax issues but his clout within the party could put him in a better position than others in attracting party support for smoother policy-making. But his sometimes abrasive personality could make it difficult to forge party consensus, critics say.
SEIJI MAEHARA, 48
Infrastructure and Transport Minister Maehara is a conservative security policy expert who has served as party leader and is hands-on with policies. Public approval for his stint in the cabinet has put him as number two on voters' lists of popular politicians.
Although known more for his views on diplomacy and defense than the economy, Maehara has advocated streamlining public works projects and has studied at a school for political leaders that embraces free-market economic policies.
Maehara, who had to step down as party leader in 2006 for backing what turned out to be unproved allegations against the then ruling party, may lack clout to marshal the Democrats.
KATSUYA OKADA, 56
Foreign Minister Okada, the son of a supermarket magnate and who enjoys a clean image, also once served as party leader and is more open than Hatoyama to raising the 5 percent consumption tax.
When he ran against Hatoyama for party leader last year, Okada said he wanted to discuss how to tackle fiscal reform, including an increase in the consumption tax, while Hatoyama said the debate should be abandoned for now.
Okada is known for a stubborn streak and his strong interest in environment policies, and he crafted the party's ambitious pledge for a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 from 1990 levels.
YOSHITO SENGOKU, 64
Sengoku, the national strategy minister, has stressed the need for fiscal restraint and has openly called for debate on raising the consumption tax.
Despite being a former member of the now defunct Socialist Party, he supports free-market policies, having criticized recent proposals by the banking minister that could lead to the postal system's banking service hurting business for regional lenders.
He has never held the party's top post.
KAZUHIRO HARAGUCHI, 50
Internal Affairs Minister Haraguchi, a frequent guest on TV talk shows, has indicated that he is against debating an increase in the consumption tax before reviving the economy.
Haraguchi also studied at the same political leadership school as Maehara that embraces free-market policies and is known for his calls to shift policy responsibilities away from the central government and more to regions.
He lacks clout within the party, although he could be popular with voters for his fresh image. Like Sengoku, he has never held the party's leadership post before.
YOSHIHIKO NODA, 53
The deputy finance minister favours fiscal discipline and has spoken in support of Finance Minister Kan's call to cap new bond issuance for next fiscal year's budget.
Noda, who has been mostly in charge of international finance, has also said that Greece's debt problems are a sign that Japan needs to lower its debt.
He has yet to serve as a party leader, though he has served as the head of parliamentary affairs, giving him experience in tough negotiations.
(Reporting by Chisa Fujioka and Yoko Kubota; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
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