Presidential elections were held in South Korea on 18 December 1997. The result was a victory for opposition candidate Kim Dae-jung, ending almost 36 years of conservative rule. When he took office in 1998, it also marked the first time in Korean history that the ruling party peacefully transferred power to the opposition party.
The ULD National Convention held on 24 June at Olympic Gymnastics Arena overwhelmingly nominated 8-term lawmaker Kim Jong-pil from South Chungcheong for president.
Candidate
Delegates
%
Kim Jong-pil
2,575
82.29
Han Young-soo
554
17.71
Total
3,129
100
Democratic Party
On 11 September, the Democratic Party, once the premier opposition to the New Koreans but a fringe party ever since the defection of Kim Dae-jung's faction in 1995, nominated Seoul mayor Cho Soon for president.
On 4 November, former NKP politicians unhappy with Lee Hoi-chang founded the New National Party and nominated Lee In-je for president. This was after the scandal regarding Lee Hoi-chang's sons being excused from the military service hit the news cycle and brought Lee's popularity down.
Campaign
Early polls showed Lee Hoi-chang leading Kim Dae-jung by as much as 30 percentage points. Lee Hoi-chang's lead was lost when press reports emerged that Lee’s two sons had evaded military conscription by shedding weight before their physical examinations. In South Korea, public tends to be intolerant towards men who attempt to evade mandatory military service or receive special treatment. Lee In-je then launched his own bid for the presidency, claiming that Lee Hoi-chang could not win the election and stood for a generational shift in South Korean politics as he was 20 years younger than any candidate in the race. These developments led to Kim leading in the polls by a slender margin.
Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-pil form an alliance
Kim Dae-jung, or "D.J." and Kim Jong-pil, or "J.P." agreed on 3 November to form an alliance against their common enemy, Lee Hoi-chang. In this agreement, JP announced to withdraw his bid for president to endorse DJ, and in turn DJ would appoint JP as the prime minister once elected president. The two Kims also agreed to revise the Constitution after the election from presidential system to parliamentary system, and the NCNP and ULD would cooperate on different issues as a coalition government. Kim Dae-jung shocked his supporters with this move as Kim Jong-pil prominently served as prime minister under the Park Chung-hee authoritarian regime of the 1960s and 70s to join his ticket even though Kim was targeted by the Park regime as a political dissident, surviving government assassination attempts and imprisonment.
On the other hand, needing a breakthrough as Kim Dae-jung's popularity soared, Lee Hoi-chang and Cho Soon also agreed to combine forces. On 21 November, the New Korea Party and Democratic Party merged into one party, and was founded as the Grand National Party. Cho Soon was made the chairman of the party, and Lee Hoi-chang the candidate for president. The election was also the first to feature election debates between the candidates.
