I blogged earlier today that South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's sudden change in tenor of dealing with North Korea was a sign of his political weakness and the downfall of his career in office.
I was proven right today when some of the major election results were declared with Lee's Grand National Party winning only 6 of of the 16 key mayoral and gubernatorial races. Their main competition, the Democratic Party, took 7.
Lee's party is the more traditionally conservative one, while the Democratic Party is more liberal. What that means in Korea, however, is way beyond me.
What I do know is that Koreans unexpectedly did NOT vote conservative right after the sinking of the Cheonan in March. That is strange. One analyst said that while conservative feelings were stirred up, the conservative voters simply failed to turn out.
It's interesting that a country with so much nationalistic pride would be so lethargic on a voting day right after a North Korean attack. Of course, maybe that shows just how uninterested in the North most South Koreans are. Go figure.
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