Chung Un-chan GS '78, former president of Seoul National University (SNU), has recently been the focus of persistent requests from the Uri party and other liberal South Korean political groups to announce his candidacy for the country's presidency.
Though several South Korean publications have reported that Chung is close to announcing his candidacy, he has stopped short of declaring his intention to run. The election is scheduled for December.
"He is frustrated that some of the less reputable papers [in South Korea] have misconstrued his intentions," said a close friend and former colleague of Chung's who was granted anonymity because he did not want to be seen as publicly attempting to boost Chung's career.
The friend said that Chung, now a professor at SNU, has been careful in his consideration of a possible run. "He's not just another politician trying to gain power," he said.
George Corser '85, a blogger for Princeton-in-Korea, said Chung has been recognized as having a reputation for avoiding controversy and having a clean political background. "He's like ... Colin Powell in that respect," Corser said, "because he has a lot of credibility and could bring that credibility to an election."
This December's presidential election is the nation's first following the splintering of the Grand National Party's (GNP) leading contender, the Millennium Democratic Party, into a variety of smaller factions — including the Uri party — representing the nation's liberal base.
Polls cited recently by the South Korean Yonhap News strongly favored the GNP's leading candidate, former mayor of Seoul and CEO of Hyundai, Lee Myung-Bak.
Of a potential Chung/Myung-Bak runoff, Grace Kim '07, former president of the Korean American Student's Association, said, "They are both highly qualified. I would not like to see both of them go head to head."
Kim was introduced to Chung, the former president of the Princeton Club of Korea, during a visit there over the summer.
"He's a kind of breath of fresh air compared to many of the politicians in South Korea," Kim said, remembering him as extremely approachable compared to other individuals of his status and clout.
"He's very humble, not something you find in a lot of the older Koreans of importance," she said.
Sociology professor Gilbert Rozman, an expert in Northeast Asian politics, said the outcome of South Korea's upcoming presidential election might be difficult to predict. "South Korean politics is some of the messiest politics one may observe, and it is difficult to tell where it will go," he said.
Rozman added that candidates from the political right and left were expected to dissociate themselves from current President Roh Moo-hyun, largely due to a low approval rating after his near-impeachment in 2004.
"Chung opposed Roh on educational policies regarding [South Korea's Universities], with reforms that would have undermined their selectivity, what makes a few of them unique," Rozman said.
The first President of the Republic of Korea, Syngman Rhee GS 1910, received a Ph.D. from the University in political science.
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