Kim Dae-jung's homework on rebuilding his party<\/p>\n
The Korea Herald, Asia News Network, Seoul<\/p>\n
President Kim Dae-jung left for Brunei Sunday to attend the
\nannual summit of \"ASEAN plus Three\" (East Asian nations).
\nGripping his mind during the three-day overseas tour, however,
\nwill not be the international agenda, but domestic politics. Upon
\nreturning home, Kim should unveil a plan to rebuild his
\nMillennium Democratic Party (MDP), mired in unprecedented
\ndisarray after another crushing by-election setback and prepare
\nfor major elections next year.<\/p>\n
Though not totally unexpected, the MDP's 3-0 defeat to the
\nopposition Grand National Party (GNP) at the Oct. 25 polls to
\nfill vacant parliamentary seats has left deep scars on the ruling
\nparty. The 12-member Supreme Council resigned en masse Friday,
\ntaking due responsibility for the election defeat. Following them
\nwere all key officeholders, including the floor leader and
\nspokesman, leaving the party headquarters empty and worryingly
\nparalyzing its operation over the weekend.<\/p>\n
What might anger even its most loyal supporters and bother the
\naverage voters, however, was not the electoral defeat itself but
\nthe split of the party in its aftermath. The long simmering feud
\nbetween Kim's longtime confidantes and \"new bloods\" of young,
\nreformist lawmakers has erupted once again, labeling each other
\n\"corruptors\" and \"instigators.\" All would-be presidential
\ncandidates were also busy jockeying for advantageous positions in
\nthe name of offering remedies.<\/p>\n
At the center of the ruling party's turmoil is the \"Donggyo-
\ndong faction,\" called so after an area in western Seoul where
\nPresident Kim lived during his long days as opposition leader. As
\nKim's lifetime colleagues from blue prison uniforms to the Blue
\nHouse, some of these former democracy fighters under the military
\ndictatorships are now criticized for domineering over all spheres
\nof national administration, ranging from personnel appointment to
\npublic projects.<\/p>\n
Every sacrifice deserves certain rewards, but enough is
\nenough. These Donggyo-dong people should recall their original
\nresolve not to take any official positions during their boss'
\ntenure. Kim, for his part, should have replaced long ago the aide
\ngroup that had contributed to creating his presidency with one to
\nhelp maintain it expertly. The president needs not see any
\nfurther than his own predecessor, who failed because of undue
\nreliance on the \"secret-line\" aides.<\/p>\n
Again, however, the problems inflicting Kim and his ruling
\nparty should not be exclusively theirs alone. Although Korea has
\nbecome the envy of most developing countries for its simultaneous
\nindustrialization and democratization in just half a century,
\nsuch a rapid transformation in outfits has not always been
\naccompanied by changes of content, as shown by the 1997 financial
\ncrisis. In politics, too, Korea has a modern democratic system,
\nbut the people operating them are still pre-modern.<\/p>\n
This in turn has been somewhat inevitable, considering the
\nnation's tumultuous modern history, marred by the so-called
\n\"three C's\" -- Confucianism, colonialism and Communism -- that
\nsomehow do not go well with the free, capitalistic democracy it
\npursues. All the negative elements of Korean politics today,
\nnamely cronyism, nepotism, extreme confrontation rather than
\ncompromise, rule of man instead of law, and grouping by interests
\nthan ideology, might have derived from these.<\/p>\n
A typical example of the last case was the recently broken
\ncoalition between Kim's center-left MDP and far-right United
\nLiberal Democrats, run by his former oppressor and the creator of
\nthe Korean CIA. The situation is little different in the
\nopposition GNP, a medley of progressives and conservatives. As
\nour ancestors did in the medieval Joseon Dynasty, we still value
\nconnections more than content, and who is doing things rather
\nthan what is being done.<\/p>\n
When President Kim took office in February 1998, people
\nexpected he would break this worn-out mould and pull the nation
\nout of its immature politics. So far, he seems to have failed to
\nmeet such expectations, yielding to the limits of minority
\ngovernment with regional support base. But we suspect what has
\nhindered Kim from conducting grander politics might be his desire
\nto prolong his party's reign and complete his unfulfilled goals,
\neconomically and diplomatically.<\/p>\n
We believe there are better ways of doing that. First of all,
\nKim should overhaul his party, more boldly and rapidly, both in
\npersonnel management and day-to-day operation. Then he had better
\ndistance himself from party politics and remain neutral in the
\nnext elections. Instead, Kim must focus on national
\nadministration to complete half-baked economic reform and the
\nprocess of inter-Korean reconciliation. The nation needs a
\npresident who can sever the vicious, unproductive political
\ncycle.<\/p>",
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