Dynasty or Dallas?

MOON or AHN? The first debate of Korea's 2012 presidential campaign was eventually aired after 11 PM yesterday - a non-event completely occulted by a major strike of bus drivers. The strike was eventually canceled at the last moment, and who knows? The selection of the "liberal" champion could also be canceled at the last moment.

Both rivals agreed to select the best candidate after polling the voters, but not on the poll itself. Typically, MOON Jae-in wants the question to be who's the best candidate to represent the left, and AHN Cheol-soo thinks the question should rather be who is more likely to win the elections. Of course, MOON would win the first poll because he already won the primaries to the left, and AHN would win the second because as an independent, he reaches across a much wider spectrum.

 Just like in 1987, when the KIM duel (YS-DJ) resulted in ROH Tae-woo's election, maintaining both candidatures would pave the way for a victory of PARK Geun-hye. So this year's soap opera goes between Dynasty (PARK II in South Korea v. KIM III in North Korea) and Dallas (the brotherly MOON-AHN war).

I've been following Korean, US and French politics in parallel, and it's hard to tell where it gets the craziest. This week, I thought France's UMP set new standards, but never underestimate a country where the national assembly is often used as a UFC ring.

Seoul Village 2012
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter