The battle among the presidential candidates to recruit prominent figures to spruce up their campaigns is seeing a backlash, undermining their original intention to highlight reform and unity.

The ruling Saenuri Party and its presidential candidate Park Geun-hye have struggled with internal discontent over the recent appointment of a former opposition leader. The main opposition Democratic United Party has also caused friction among some party members for recruiting a conservative former minister. Independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, meanwhile, was denounced by the DUP upon the defection of one of its member to join him on Tuesday.

While the original aim was to highlight the prevailing reform and unity drive by making pan-partisan recruitments, controversies following each decision are undercutting the intended impact, political pundits said.

“If such recruitments were being made before their campaigns began, the sincerity would surely resonate among the voters. But because such moves are being made immediately before the election, it is clearly seen as part of politicking,” said politics professor Yun Seong-yi of Kyung Hee University.

“For several decades, all (democratic) parties around the world have shown the tendency to become inclusive parties, meaning there are less and less distinctions between the left-wing and the right-wing,” Yun added.

“While many of the personnel decisions by the presidential candidates fall under the same phenomenon, their intentions can be misconstrued as they have failed to show sincerity,” he explained.

Although the Saenuri Party showed signs of stabilizing upon Park’s marathon meetings late Tuesday night, the conflict between her key political reform man Ahn Dai-hee and former DUP leader Han Gwang-ok scarred her campaign initially focused on unity. The discord between her economic democratization strategist Kim Chong-in and floor leader Lee Hahn-koo also added to Park’s predicament.

Earlier, Park’s camp was criticized for rushing to announce it was recruiting actress Son Sook and London Olympics judo gold medalist Kim Jae-bum, only to be declined by the two soon after.

At the DUP, Moon’s designation of former environment minister Yoon Yeo-joon to spearhead his Committee to Pursue People’s Unity prompted raucous debate over his political past. Yoon served key cabinet posts during the past Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo and Kim Young-sam administrations, and as a proportional representative of the Grand National Party, the precursor to the Saenuri Party. Yoon also offered mentorship to Ahn before he joined Moon’s camp. Critics within the DUP criticized Yoon as unfit for being a “migratory politician.”

Ahn’s recruitment of former DUP member Rep. Song Ho-chang also received denouncement, particularly by the DUP.

“New politics (touted by Ahn) cannot be achieved through such a method,” said Rep. Jin Sung-joon, spokesman for Moon.

Unlike the surprise move of former Saenuri member Kim Sung-shik, who had been vocally reformative, to Ahn’s camp earlier this month as the co-chair of the election headquarters, Song’s defection was criticized as lacking justification.

Party members denounced Song’s decision as a betrayal just months after the first-term lawmaker won his parliamentary seat on the DUP ticket.

Observers, however, cautioned against criticizing all pan-partisan recruitments, arguing that they demonstrated the parties transcending past ideological battles.

“The fight between the progressives and the conservatives is an illusion at the present time,” Yun said.

“Recruiting people with different political backgrounds is therefore a natural thing.”

The parties, however, should also deviate from signifying their position as “conservative” or “progressive” while their policies differ little, thereby confusing the voters, he added.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)