And then there were three

Tensed up and overwhelmed by emotions, he clicks his mouth to utter short sentences, and barely manages to control the dam behind those moist eyes. A brief smile when the audience barks a liberating round of applause - Ahn Cheol-soo has just come out as an official candidate for the December 19 presidential elections - and he quickly returns to his serious speech.

I wouldn't wish my worst enemy to become president of South Korea: you either end up dead or in jail, at best covered with mud. And this time, the top guy will face daunting challenges and take unpopular decisions.

Ahn doesn't have a party or even an official team, and anywhere else, there'd no way he could win two months from now. But this is Korea, a political mess where traditional parties are too busy searching and destroying enemies to carry any reform, a democracy bound to change for the better or worst after these elections (see "25 years later").

For Ahn Cheol-soo, it was not a matter of "if" but of of "when"*. He considered the usual springboard before leaving Seoul City Hall to Park Won-soon, and spent the following years preparing himself while all rivals pursued their path to self-destruction.

He waited until the last moment, right after Moon Jae-in's victory at the DUP primaries, depriving him from any chance of gaining momentum. Both Moon and Ahn stand behind Park in the polls, but the outsider expects a decisive boost in the days to come.

And he smartly asked his rivals to join his pledge for a positive campaign, as well as for a constructive collaboration following the elections, whatever their outcome. A pledge neither Saenuri nor DUP can even pretend to agree upon.

Sparks won't fly. Too much mud around for that.

Seoul Village 2012
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* see all posts related to Ahn, including "AHN Cheol-soo(n)", "A new mayor for Seoul, a new landscape for 2012"