Erection day

Today marks the culmination of the presidential election campaign, when Korean voters go to the polls and choose the man who will lead Korea to nirvana and world domination for the next 5 years.  The conservative GNP's Lee Myung-bak is certain to be elected, barring an unexpected meteor shower or The Host(괴물) rampaging through downtown Seoul; the only guesswork that remains to be done is regarding the margin of victory.

Now, those of you who reside in the Land of Morning Calm will be as stunned and shocked as I was to hear the words Korea and corruption mentioned in the same sentence [Editors note: I think you used up an entire year's worth of your sarcasm quota with that one], but given the sheer volume of accusations flying around, a casual observer could perhaps conclude that the two words go together like kimchi and jigae. To call the campaign underhand and dirty is a fair bit of an understatement. There have been more dirty tricks and mudslinging than a catfight royal rumble in a pigsty.

And of course, there has ben much civilized debate...

On Friday, legislators attempting to vote on whether or not to reopen the investigation into the frontrunner, Lee Myung-bak, who had earlier in the week been cleared of stock market manipulation, became involved in a series of scuffles when rival GNP lawmakers attempted to stop the vote by occupying the chamber.

GNP lawmakers tried to block access to the speaker's podium in the National Assembly using sofas, metal bars and chains, while their UNDP rivals used their hands and power saws (!!!) to hack through the barriers,

Feckin' POWER SAWS? Looks like the legislature have been playing one too many games of DOOM, as one wag already commentated.

More details can be found here.

Can you imagine something like that in the halls of Westminster or Congress?  It would definitely be way more of a spectator sport than watching some 70-year old politico trying to filibuster for 23 hours solid or enduring the 'hilarity' of David Cameron and the Conservatives haw-hawing the "right honorable gentleman Gordon Brown" during Prime Minister's Question Time.

While it'd be hard to picture British MPs - John "2 Jags" Prescott  excepted -  getting stuck in, Washington has former wrestler Jesse Venture in the Senate and of course, the Gubernator, Ah-nold Schwarzenegger. I can definitely see those two kicking some serious butt.