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17th Presidential Election
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Comparing with Past Elections
1997 Presidential Election
2002 Presidential Election
 
 
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1997 Presidential Election
 
1997 Election Overview
Election Date No. of Candidates Winner Total Electorate No. of Voters Voter Turnout
Dec. 18, 1997 7 Kim Dae-jung 32,290,416 26,042,633 80.7%
 
Candidates and Winner
Name Party Popular Vote Note
Kim Dae-jung Nat’l Congress for New Politics 10,326,275 Elected with 40.3% of popular vote
Lee Hoi-chang Grand National Party 9,935,718 Defeated by around 390,000 votes
Rhee In-je New People Party 4,925,591 Ran as independent after dropping out of GNP primary
Kwon Young-ghil People’s Victory 21 306,026 -
Shin Jeong-il Korea Party 61,056 -
Kim Han-shik Honest Politics Unite 48,717 -
Huh Kyoung-young Republican Party 39,055 -
 
Situation in South Korea During the Election Period
"IMF Crisis" (1997 Asian Financial Crisis)
The Asian financial crisis erupted at the end of the Kim Young-sam administration, just weeks ahead of the 15th presidential election. The government had to request the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for emergency assistance after the nation’s foreign exchange reserves were nearly depleted in November 1997.

The then-ruling New Korea Party (forerunner of the Grand National Party) faced severe criticism following the economic collapse and experienced a crumbling of its support base ahead of the presidential election.
 
Political Sector
Ruling Camp The New Korea Party was the ruling party at the time the nation was set to hold its 15th presidential election. However, the party changed its name to Grand National Party on November 21, 1997 shortly before the election amid internal feuding and tarnishing of the party's image by the Asian financial crisis.
Lee Hoi-chang’s Approval Rating Drops At the beginning of the campaign period, Grand National Party (GNP) presidential candidate Lee Hoi-chang seemed to be the people’s favorite, having posted an approval rating of over 50 percent in the GNP primary. However, the tide turned for Kim Dae-jung, presidential candidate for the National Congress for New Politics, when his party raised suspicions that Lee’s sons had dodged mandatory military service. Lee’s approval ratings took a nosedive; at their low, he ranked third in the polls.
Rhee In-je Bolts from the GNP Rhee In-je, who was Gyeonggi Province Governor at the time, proposed replacing the party's presidential candidate after Lee’s approval rating dropped and allegations over his sons' alleged draft-dodging emerged. However, the proposal was rejected and Rhee bolted from the GNP, created the New People Party and ran as its presidential candidate. Rhee’s move ultimately scattered votes initially cast for the GNP and led to its crushing defeat in the 1997 presidential race.
Opposition Camp Kim Dae-jung’s Stable Leadership Kim Dae-jung had established stable leadership as the presidential candidate of the National Congress for New Politics when he allied with the United Liberal Democrats' Kim Jong-pil to expand his support base. While the ruling camp was marred in a series of breakups, the opposition parties joined forces to key the ruling camp’s defeat in the presidential elections.
 
Election Results
Kim Dae-jung Wins Election
Kim Dae-jung was elected South Korea’s 15th president after garnering some 10 million votes with an approval rating of a little over 40 percent. Kim had won around 390,000 more votes than the GNP’s Lee while Rhee came in third with some five million votes.