New South Korean PM is former spy chief<\/p>\n
SEOUL (Reuters): South Korea's new \"acting\" prime minister Kim
\nJong-pil, 72, has been at the center of Korean politics and a
\ncontroversial figure for nearly four decades.<\/p>\n
His appointment was blocked in the National Assembly by the
\nopposition Grand National Party -- which still retains a majority
\ndespite losing December's election -- because of his checkered
\ncareer.<\/p>\n
Kim Jong-pil played a pivotal role as a young army colonel in
\nthe 1961 coup d'etat that brought General Park Chung-hee to power
\nand was Park's right-hand man until the dictator's assassination
\nin 1979.<\/p>\n
\"J.P.\", as he is popularly known, is embarking on his second
\nstint as prime minister, having served in that capacity under
\nPark in the 1970s.<\/p>\n
He founded the infamous Korean Central Intelligence Agency
\n(KCIA) that over the years jailed, tortured and attempted to
\nmurder President Kim Dae-jung for his opposition to autocratic
\nregimes.<\/p>\n
Kim Jong-pil used the KCIA to amass money in an attempt to
\nbuild a one-party state under Park, according to Mark Clifford's
\n\"Troubled Tiger\", an authoritative history of the period.<\/p>\n
A nephew and close associate of Park, he was implicated in
\nseveral scandals in the 1960s, including stock market
\nmanipulation and abuse of foreign exchange privileges, though
\nnever convicted, Clifford said.<\/p>\n
On May 18, 1980, in the turbulent period following Park's
\nassassination, Kim Jong-pil and other key Park lieutenants were
\narrested as strongman President Chun Doo-hwan declared martial
\nlaw following mass street demonstrations.<\/p>\n
Also picked up that night was Kim Dae-jung, who would later be
\ncharged with treason in connection with a subsequent uprising in
\nthe southern city of Kwangju that was brutally put down by the
\narmy.<\/p>\n
The following month, the martial law commander charged that
\nnine politicians and former government officials, including Kim
\nJong-pil, had illegally amassed almost $150 million while in
\noffice.<\/p>\n
Kim Jong-pil was accused of holding almost $36 million in
\nvarious holdings, including a tangerine orchard, dairy farm and
\nnewspaper company.<\/p>\n
Kim Jong-pil was also said to have over $7 million in secret
\nbank accounts in Seoul, according to Clifford's book. He was
\n\"purged' from the governing party.<\/p>\n
Kim Jong-pil began a comeback in the 1987 presidential
\nelections, running against Kim Dae-jung and his predecessor as
\npresident, Kim Young-sam, but finishing with just eight percent
\nof the vote.<\/p>\n
The \"three Kims\" as they then became known, split the vote,
\nallowing former general and Chun protege, Roh Tae Woo to win the
\nelection.<\/p>\n
Kim Jong-pil joined forces with Kim Young-sam after the latter
\nwon the 1992 election, but split with him about a year later.
\nThe strange alliance between Kim Dae-jung and the man whose KCIA
\nonce tried to assassinate him and who hounded him throughout his
\ncareer in opposition raised eyebrows when it was announced last
\nOctober.<\/p>\n
But Kim Dae-jung knew he could not win unless he broadened his
\nsupport from his traditional base in the southwest Cholla region
\nand reassure South Korean voters that he was not the radical,
\nleftist rabble-rouser that he was painted as by successive
\nmilitary regimes.<\/p>\n
The price of that support was a deal to name J.P as prime
\nminister and endow what has largely been a ceremonial office with
\nnew powers while turning the presidential form of government into
\na parliamentary one.<\/p>\n
Kim Jong-pil's support, as it turned out, was crucial in the
\nelection, which Kim Dae-jung won by barely a one-percent margin.
\nBut it remains to be seen whether Kim Dae-jung will be able to
\nfill his side of the bargain and make his \"acting prime minister\"
\na powerful one.<\/p>",
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