South Korea's 2012 Presidential Race

 In 2012, South Korea is also having an election for President. There are 3 main candidates.

The election will be held on December 19th, 2012. This will be the 18th election.The winner will be determined in the first-past-the-post system, meaning that there will be a single round of voting and the candidate receiving the highest number of votes will be elected

• You have to be 19 years old to vote in South Korea.

• Presidents can only serve one 5 year term. The current President, Lee Myung-bak, leaves office in Febuary of 2013.

Park Guen-hye is running for the Saenuri party (also known as the New Frontier Party). She is a member of the National Assembly. Her father was President of South Korea from 1963 to 1979.

• The Saenuri party is conservative on social issues; in the last election the president called homosexuality "abnormal" and opposed any legal recognition of same-sex couples.Saenuri has been very active in promoting the North Korean Human Rights Law, which, if passed, would officially condemn the use of torture, public executions and other human rights violations in North Korea

Moon Jae-in is running for the Democratic United Party (DUP). He is a human rights lawyer.

• The Democratic United Party (DUP) is a liberal political party in South Korea. The party supports greater human rights, improved relations with North Korea, and an economic policy described as “new progressivism.”

Ahn Chul-soo is running as an independent third candidate. He is a doctor and software entrepreneur.



Sources: Wikipedia and Britannica