Remember when I said this last week (I know all of y’all eat up everything that comes off my keyboard):
Sooner or later, someone in the Uri leadership is going to have to take Goh on or watch their power dissolve as Goh packs the his party’s leadership with his closest followers.
Well, it looks like it will happen sooner and the man taking the lead is none other than the big man himself, President Roh Moo-hyun along with his new buddy, former President Kim Dae-jung. They seem to have gotten over their previous bad blood and are working together to unite the Korean left (Korea Times):
Former President Kim Dae-jung has recently been increasing political activities at a time when the governing camp is seeking a political regrouping ahead of next year’s presidential election due to its plummeting public approval rating…
Following closed-door talks with Roh in Kwangju last Saturday, Kim Wednesday visited Pusan, the GNP’s home turf.
Roh visited Kwangju, stronghold of Kim where citizens are reportedly turning their back on the president. Roh was elected president in the election of December 2002 on the ticket of the Millennium Democratic Party, the predecessor of the governing Uri Party.
Naturally, the GNP is unhappy. They would much prefer to have the left divided into two or three factions ahead of next years election.
Another unhappy person is, also naturally, Goh Kun. A unified left would dramatically weaken his plans for running as a moderate unity candidate against the GNP. In response, Goh has decided to (moderately, of course) bash the Sunshine policy (Korea Herald):
“As sunlight changes in four seasons, there is a need for changes to inter-Korean relations,” he said in a lecture to students at a local university today.
Goh said Seoul should revise its policy of appeasement* with the North and seek a “practical and moderate line” by reasonably mixing aid and economic exchanges with sanctions.
So it is now open season on what will soon be the shattered remnants of the Uri Party with Goh Kun going against Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Dae-jung to see who can gather the most pieces. This is going to be a fun fight to watch.
(*NOTE: While I happen to believe that the Sunshine policy is appeasement, I think that word belongs in an editorial rather than a news piece.)
9 Comments
Andy, Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Dae-jung don’t have a chance. People are more than weary of these fellows. Yes, let them form a party since it would draw more criticism than votes.
Andy,
It’ll be very interesting to see where Korean politics go from here…although I have my reservations (see below).
R. Elgin,
I’d like to believe you’re right and maybe I’ve been here too long and have become jaded, but I don’t see any drastic changes happening in domestic and foreign policies, no matter which “party” is in power. Please, someone, prove me wrong.
Uri is still pulling about 20% in most major polls. It you combined that with the Democrats and the DLP, the ‘united left’ vote is in the mid 30s. That is within striking distance of the GNP (in the mid 40s).
If either side (Goh or Roh-Kim) can unite Uri and the Democrats, and if the spy probe guts the DLP, they could make a serious run for the Blue House.
Isn’t there a chance that Lee “Grand Canal” Myung-Bak can now siphon off some of Goh’s right-leaning moderates if it looks like it’s going to be a stronger left-right split? I’m just asking–I don’t get Korean politics.
Michael,
Yes, there is.
Lee actually has a relatively moderate image himself (kind of like McCain in the States), so I think he already has a big chunk of the moderate conservatives (which is why Lee has about 35% support to Goh’s 20%).
What Goh wants to do is sit right in the middle and force the left to support him because he is the only one who can stop the evil GNPers. Tracking to the left would disrupt that strategy. That is why is countering the Roh-Kim partnerships by speaking out against the Sunshine policy.
That totally makes sense with the McCain reference–I can see Lee appealing to Koreans who aren’t so interested in ideology and “sunshine” and just want low taxes (and a big canal).
Indeed Michael, everyone loves a big canal and I guess Koreans want canal knowledge of their next president . . .
Owww….
Actually, 유화정책 (appeasement) is not a dirty word in Korea. Many Koreans advocate the Sunshine Policy while freely admitting that it is appeasement.