Scott was at yesterday’s memorial ceremony in front of Deoksugung Palace, and took photos to prove it.
OhMyNews was at the memorial, too.
On a separate note, Rep. Chung Dong-young attempted to pay his respects at Bongha Village, but was stopped at the village entrance by Roh supporters yelling “Down with Chung Dong-young!” Some supporters apparently threw, ahem, night soil at Rep. Chung, too.
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Interesting and a bit satisfying to see Chung get thrown under the bus. Anybody have any ideas why? They were political allies, after all.
Okay, so with Roh’s final f-you to the administration and the conservative base, it is apparent that LMB is in even deeper shit than before. There is a serious possibility that his administration will be rendered completely powerless and incapacitated for the remainder of its term. My advice to LMB at this point would be this: use Roh’s death as a blessing in disguise and shamelessly use it to your advantage, in a way that would make Roh blush. How? Act like this was a life-changing moment for you. Leak to the press how utterly shocked you were at the news, and how your aides are worried about your mental well-being. Start saying that this event has completely changed your outlook on life, given you new perspective, and forced you to reflect on all your missteps. Then come out with a completely different policy, one that is still conservative but compassionate to the plight of the underprivileged–the union workers, the part-time workers, the homeless, etc. Sure, you’ll never win over the harcore leftist activists. But if played right, maybe, just maybe, you may be able to win over the “ordinary citizens” who are frustrated out of their minds at how you just don’t get it. How you have all the logic and reasoning on your side, but are hopelessly out of touch with the philosophies of half the country who subscribe to the views they learned from textbooks with distinct liberal biases–those who view redistribution as the holy grail. You might think that logic will prevail and that these people would see the light and join you in your praise of democracy and capitalism, but the truth is, you don’t have the political capital or credibility to push that agenda. So there is no way you can lead the country without embracing a substantial portion of these people and their views. But with all your missteps and blunders, both real and unfairly attributed, there is no real way you can divorce from your past and start anew. You could become the next Chavez, and would still be chastised by the liberals and socialists. But if you could sell the story of the born-again compassionate leader who finally saw the other side due to the death of an adversary, it just might work. After all, Koreans are trained to be ready to blindly follow a worthy leader.
colontos,
About time of Roh being a lame duck & being extremely unpopular, Chung split the party in half and kind of ran away or you might say “deliberately sabotaged” Roh for his presidency’s sake. Something like McCaine chewing up Bush to gain sth…(whatever it was).
In short, almost at the end of his presidency, Roh had almost no one left along his side.
timmy,
Do you really think LMB has got the smarts enough to execute your grande tattica? You’re kidding aren’t you…
He even said this… right after seeing the mourning ceremony
“I’m glad to see that even if I die, there would be people who’d mourn for me”
What kind of a man…….. talks like that on his predecessor’s death?
I like Timmy’s idea. What I add is less of a recipe and more of a scope problem for all political parties and interests to consider:
Roh has martyred himself but it is not clear what cause his suicide promotes. Timmy astutely identifies Lee Myung-bak as a primary stakeholder in this issue. But, who will control that assessment as we go forward? Whoever that is must be able to make a clear decision about that cause and have the influence to promote it. Will it be the current administration or labor activists?
Timmy’s idea is a wonderful fantasy but unrealistic. And there are other directions this decision could go. For example, it may be beneficial to the current administration to define Roh’s martydom as a testimony to the evils of corruption that capture well intentioned, previously untainted and principled leaders like Roh. Lee could start a campaign to eliminate corruption at all levels of government and business in Korea in honor of Roh.
Looks like it’s going to be a weird summer…
Chirp:
Do you have a news link to that quote, preferably in Korean?
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