1997 presidential election in South Korea

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16. Presidential election
December 19, 1997
Votes						26,042,633
voter turnout
						80.7% ▼  1.2%
			Sae-jeongchi-gungmin-hoeui (National Congress for New Politics)
			Kim Dae-jung
			be right				10,326,275
									40.3%
			Hannara Party (Great National Party)
			Lee Hoi-chang
			be right				9,935,718
									38.7%
Election results
President of South Korea
Before the election Kim Young-sam Sin-Hanguk-dang (New Korea Party)						Elected Kim Dae-jung Sae-jeongchi-gungmin-hoeui

The 15th presidential election in South Korea took place on December 19, 1997. According to the official final result of the South Korean Electoral Commission, Kim Dae-jung of Sae-jeongchi-gungmin-hoeui won the election with 40.3 percent of the vote. As a result, the left-wing forces won for the first time in 36 years and power was peacefully handed over to the opposition party.

The decision on the new head of state was made by majority vote (without a possible runoff ) in one go. In South Korea, presidencies are limited to one term.

background

History and candidate selection

In the internal primaries of the ruling and opposition parties, the clear favorites prevailed. Kim Dae-jung , who had tried to become President of South Korea ten years earlier, won his party's primary election on May 19, 1997 against just one other candidate, Chyung Dai-chul, with 78.04% of the vote.

President Kim Young-sam's ruling party held its nomination convention on July 21, 1997. Lee Hoi-chang prevailed against five other candidates in his party. He won the first round of voting with 41.13%, the runoff election against Lee In-je Lee Hoi-chang won with almost 60% of the vote.

The party of Kim Jong-pil Jayu Minju Yeonhap , named Kim on June 24, 1997, another candidate for the presidential election of 1987. Kim won the primary with 82.3% of the vote. However, Kim Jong-pil withdrew his candidacy in favor of Kim Dae-jung. After his election victory, he named him Prime Minister.

Lee In-je, who was defeated in the primary, was nominated on November 4, 1997 as a candidate for the New National Party.

In addition, former Seoul Mayor Cho Soon was nominated as a candidate for the Democratic Party. He withdrew his candidacy in favor of Lee Hoi-chang.

Four other candidates were on the ballot papers to choose from. However, together they only got around 2% of the vote.

Results

Kim Dae-jung won the big cities of the country as well as the traditionally politically liberal regions in Jeolla-do . Lee Hoi-chang gained his support mainly from the traditionally conservative regions of Gyeongsang-do and Gangwon-do .

candidate	Political party	be right	percent
Kim Dae-jung	Sae-jeongchi-gungmin-hoeui (새 정치 국민회 의)	10 326 275	40.3%
Lee Hoi-chang	Hannara Party (한나라당)	9 935 718	38.7%
Lee In-je	Gungminshin Party (국민 신당)	4th 925 591	19.2%
Kwon Young-ghil	Victory of the people for the 21st century (건설 국민 승리 21)	306 026	1.2%
Huh Kyung-young	Republican Party (공화당)	32 918	0.2%
Shin Jeong Yil	United Korea Party (한주 의 통일 한국당)	11 901	0.2%
Kim Han-sik	Honest politics united	5714	0.2%
Invalid votes		400 195	0.6%
(Number of voters: 32 290 416 - turnout: 80.7%) total		26th 042 633	100%

Sudogwon	Seoul	44.9%	40.9%	12.8%
	Incheon	38.5%	36.4%	23.0%
	Gyeonggi	39.3%	35.5%	23.6%
Gangwon		23.8%	43.2%	30.9%
Chungcheong	Daejeon	45.0%	29.2%	24.1%
	Chungcheongbuk	37.4%	30.8%	29.4%
	Chungcheongnam	48.3%	23.5%	26.1%
Honam （Jeolla）	Gwangju	97.3%	1.3%	0.7%
	Jeollabuk	92.3%	4.5%	2.1%
	Jeollanam	94.6%	3.2%	1.4%
Yeongnam （Gyeongsang）	Busan	15.3%	53.3%	29.8%
	Ulsan	15.4%	51.4%	26.7%
	Daegu	12.5%	72.7%	13.1%
	Gyeongsangbuk	13.7%	61.9%	21.8%
	Gyeongsangnam	11.0%	55.1%	31.3%
Jeju		40.6%	36.6%	20.5%

Individual evidence

1. ↑ CNN - Kim apparent winner in S. Korean presidential election - Dec. 18, 1997. Retrieved December 2, 2019 . 
2. ^ Nicholas D. Kristof: Angry Koreans Elect Longtime Dissident . In: The New York Times . December 19, 1997, ISSN  0362-4331 ( online [accessed December 2, 2019]).
3. ^ Washingtonpost.com: Kim Dae Jung Wins Election. Retrieved December 2, 2019 . 
4. ↑ 입력 2011 09 18 00:46 | 236 호 13 면 지면 보기: 나이 · 건강 흠 잡힐 까 봐… DJ, 昌 보다 이인제 두려워 해. September 18, 2011, Retrieved December 2, 2019 (Korean). 
5. ↑ 이인용, 김지은: 신한국당 대통령 후보 이회창 당선 [김상수]. Retrieved December 2, 2019 (Korean). 
6. ↑ 이인용, 김지은: 자민련 대통령 후보 김종필 총재 의 압도적 인 선택 [윤정식]. Retrieved December 2, 2019 (Korean). 
7. ↑ ［국민 신당 창당］ 후보 이인제 - 총재 이만섭 씨 선출. November 4, 1997. Retrieved December 2, 2019 (Korean).