South Korean Politics and Elections

Roh Commutes Sentences of 6 Death-Row Inmates

Korea Times, December 31, 2007

By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter

President Roh Moo-hyun granted a special pardon for 75 people, including 21 businessmen and 30 politicians and public servents, Monday.

Of them, six inmates on death row had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment under Roh's final special amnesty. Roh's five-year term ends on Feb. 25.

Among those pardoned include now-defunct Daewoo Group Chairman Kim Woo-choong; Halla Engineering and Construction Chairman Chung Mong-won; former Democratic Party leader Hahn Hwa-kap; and Park Jie-won, presidential chief of staff for former President Kim Dae-jung.

Also included is Choi Do-sool, a former financial aide to Roh, who was convicted for receiving 90 billion won ($75 million) from businesses in 2003 after Roh won the presidential election.

Roh's special leniency for the six inmates came as South Korea marks a 10-year moratorium on the execution of inmates. No execution has been carried out since Dec. 30, 1997, when 23 death-row inmates were hanged.

According to the Justice Ministry, 58 inmates are currently awaiting execution.

Others on the list of special pardon included two former chiefs of the nation top spy agency, Shin Kun and Lim Dong-won, both convicted of ordering eavesdropping on political and business leaders during former President Kim Dae-jung's government.

Former Daewoo Chairman Kim was sentenced to eight-and-a-half-years on charges of embezzlement and accounting fraud last November but was temporarily released from prison the following month for health reasons.

Daewoo, once Korea's second largest industrial group, collapsed in July 1999 due to accumulated debts of $80 billion and was placed under a government-led restructuring program.

Last summer, five business lobby groups, including the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Korean Industries, and the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, asked for amnesty for corporate figures on the occasion of Liberation Day which falls on Aug. 15.

They submitted a joint petition containing 54 names, officially requesting that business executives convicted of financial crimes be cleared of their criminal tags.

But Hanwha Chairman Kim Seung-youn, who was given a suspended 18-month prison term for attacking off-duty bar workers, was among the high-profilers who were not pardoned.

kys@koreatimes.co.kr

40% Want Stronger Relations With US

Korea Times, December 31, 2007

By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

More than 40 percent of the people said South Korea should strengthen their alliance with the United States in 2008, a poll said Monday.

According to the survey conducted by the Hankook Ilbo, a sister paper of The Korea Times, 43.7 percent called for stronger ties citing increasing distrust between the two allies, while 27.5 percent said the status quo should be maintained.

Of 1,000 respondents, 23.9 percent said a more independent stance is required for the country.

Sunshine Policy

About 60 percent upheld the ``sunshine policy'' engaging reclusive North Korea.

Some 13.3 percent support the policy unconditionally.

Nearly 63 percent said Seoul should keep sending aid and propelling cooperative projects under the condition of complete denuclearization of Pyongyang.

About 20.4 percent insisted the South keep the North in check based on the strict reciprocity principle because threats from the communist state still exist.

The remaining 3.5 percent were undecided.

The poll also showed that about 70 percent of the people said it is necessary to completely or partially revise the agreement made during the second inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang in early October.

President Roh Moo-hyun and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-il signed a joint declaration calling for peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

Unconditional support of the accord stood at only 18.9 percent.

Size of Government

As for the government of President-elect Lee Myung-bak, more than half of the people said a smaller government should appear with fewer public servants and slimmed-down organization.

But 44.2 percent said the next government should more focus on providing the public with better services rather than cutting the number of public officials.

Presidential Term

The Constitutional reform on presidency has been a hot potato since Roh rose up the necessity on Jan. 11.

He suggested revising the current five-year, single-term presidency into four-year, double-term one.

With a mere 1.3 percentage-point gap, 39.4 percent said they supported the current presidential system, while 38.1 percent preferred Constitutional reform.

The survey found that 43.2 percent said the ``three-no'' education policy should be abolished while 33.6 percent insisted the policy remain intact.

The policy refers to a measure that bans colleges from ranking high schools, administering their own tests in the admission and receiving donations in exchange for admission.

Along with the negative opinion, President-elect Lee also plans to abolish the first two and allow universities to have authority to select new students on their own.

ksy@koreatimes.co.kr

Assembly Passes 256.1 Tril. Won Budget for 2008

Korea Times, December 28, 2007

By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

The National Assembly Friday approved a budget bill for next year scaled at 256.1 trillion won ($272 billion).

The figure represents a cut of 1.2 trillion won from the government's proposed amount of 257.3 trillion won, up 7.9 percent from this year.

Funds for education and welfare were reduced by 165 billion won and 227 billion won, respectively.

Under the inter-party compromise, expenditures in social overhead capital increased by 360 billion won.
The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) initially called for a cut of more than 5 trillion won including a larger reduction in inter-Korean cooperation funds.

But after its candidate Lee Myung-bak won the presidential election on Dec. 19, the party changed its stance and agreed to cut government spending by a smaller margin.

Instead, the GNP demanded that an additional budget be set for investment in developing new energy and supporting small- and medium-sized companies at the last minute during an ad hoc Assembly committee session, which are mostly included in Lee's campaign pledges.

Due to opposition from the pro-government United New Democratic Party, the funds were set similar to this year's level, parliamentary sources said.

ksy@koreatimes.co.kr

Troop Stay in Iraq Extended

Korea Times, December 28, 2007

By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

The controversial motion to extend the deployment of South Korean troops in Iraq was approved by the National Assembly, Friday.

The bill for the yearlong extension was passed with a vote of 146 for, 104 against and six abstentions.

Some legislators of the pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP) voted for the motion, in defiance of party leaders' decision to cast ballots of ``strong opposition.''

As a result, the party leadership will likely face threats to its authority as well as internal unity amid a feud triggered by its defeat in the presidential election.

Under the motion, the Zaytun unit which means ``olive'' in Arabic, can stay in the war-torn Middle East country until Dec. 31, 2008. The number of troops has been halved to 650.

The UNDP has contended that the government should keep its promise to withdraw the troops in the Middle East country this month.

However, four UNDP lawmakers voted for the motion at an Assembly committee meeting Thursday. Only two lawmakers objected to it, while the remaining one UNDP legislator abstained.

In the Assembly session, about 40 to 50 UNDP lawmakers are presumed to have voted for the motion.

The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) which has 128 seats in the 299-member unicameral legislature and the Democratic Party (DP) with six seats have supported the motion, saying that the extension is essential to strengthen ties with the United States.

Since 2004, the troops have carried out humanitarian and reconstruction operations in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil as the second largest coalition partner of the U.S.

ksy@koreatimes.co.kr

Labor Party Leaders to Resign En Masse

Korea Times, December 26, 2007

By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

Leaders of the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party (DLP) will resign en masse to take responsibility for the party's poor performa