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Soccer Official May Try to Ride Wave of Korean Euphoria to the Presidency

Four months before South Koreans are scheduled to elect a president, Chung Mong Joon, the front-runner in the public opinion polls, was in Malaysia this week, talking soccer.

Mr. Chung is a millionaire blessed with movie-star good looks, and, most important, he was the mastermind of South Korea's wildly successful effort as a co-host for the World Cup earlier this summer

"Successful" as in "buy off those officials" successful. Follow the $$$.

When he returned this week from a regional soccer meeting, he gave his lopsided grin to waiting television cameras and offered teasing hints that he might be a candidate for president. Mr. Chung, president of the Korea Football Association, is riding a cushion of good feelings produced by South Korea's unexpected fourth-place showing in June in the World Cup, the best ever for an Asian team

Unexpected? Does a man get to be a multimillionaire by leaving things to chance? I think not.

His father is Chung Ju Yung, the founder of the Hyundai group. As a major shareholder in Hyundai Heavy Industries, one of the world's largest shipbuilders, Mr. Chung could presumably bankroll much of a campaign. Ten years ago, his father did that, but his effort failed.

Hmmm... the 1988 Seoul olympics ring a bell? Like father, like son.