South Korean Politics and Elections

North Korea policy at the center of presidential campaign

Chung proposes peace via economic cooperation, Lee links economic aid to denuclearization

The Hankyoreh, October 18, 2007

Former Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, the presidential candidate of the government-linked United New Democratic Party, is attempting to raise the issue of peace on the Korean Peninsula as part of his campaign ahead of the upcoming presidential election. At the core of his campaign is his proposal to bring peace to the peninsula via economic policies that are built upon inter-Korean development. This is in stark contrast to the plans of conservative, opposition Grand National Party candidate, Lee Myung-bak, whose previously announced plan, known by its nickname “Vision 3000,” proposes to offer economic assistance to the North only if it abandons its nuclear programs. Differing views such as these provide an early glance at the battle to come leading up to the December 19 presidential election, with the North Korean nuclear issue at the center of the debate.

With this campaign strategy in mind, Chung visited the Gaeseong Industrial Complex on October 17. While there, he declared his vision for peace polices on the Korean Peninsula. namely the inception of a triangular economic region connecting Haeju, Gaeseong in North Korea and Incheon in South Korea. Through this program, he hopes a new era of inter-Korean growth can begin.

Chung and Lee’s policies on North Korea differ from the start. Chung stresses that activating inter-Korean economic cooperation and resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue should be dealt with simultaneously. In comparison, Lee has maintained that North Korea should first scrap its nuclear weapons programs in order to get economic assistance, which is a kind of modified mutualism.

Chung wants to make North Korea policies into an economic issue. His intention is to help South Korea’s small- and mid-sized companies advance into North Korea and to develop the North into a complex for light industry. He is apparently employing a strategy that stresses peace through economic cooperation.

It is remarkable that Lee is moving little by little to the left in terms of his North Korean policies. When he announced his so-called Vision 3000 in February, Lee stressed that the North should completely abolish its nuclear programs in order to get economic assistance. However, he later eased his position and is now urging North Korea to enter negotiations to abandon its nuclear programs. He seems to have changed his position in consideration of high public support for the results of the second inter-Korean summit and rapid progress in the six-party talks and apparently intends to weaken Chung’s attack regarding the peace issue. He also seems to be haunted by the fact that the GNP lost two presidential elections because it maintained a rigid mutualism in its policies toward North Korea.

It is anticipated that Chung’s camp will openly attack Lee using the peace issue. “As was the case with the administration of former President Kim Young-sam, people know that if the GNP wins the presidential election, much time and money will be wasted. We will concentrate on criticizing the falsehood of the GNP’s North Korea policies,” said Rep. Min Byung-doo, a key campaign strategist for Chung.

Lee has adopted macroeconomic policies with the aim of fundamentally changing the North’s infrastructure as well as its economic, educational, financial and welfare systems, while Chung’s policies are mainly about inter-Korean cooperation projects, said Lee’s camp.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

Roh, Bush affirm top goal is denuclearization

JoongAng Daily, October 11, 2007

The presidents of South Korea and the United States agreed in a telephone call Tuesday that the foremost goal for this area is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the White House said yesterday.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun briefed U.S. President George W. Bush on the results and discussions from his meetings last week with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-il, spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.

Perino said the multilateral format created leverage and was a way for North Korea’s neighbors and the United States to seek a common goal and pressure Pyongyang.

If North Korea wants the incentives offered in the denuclearization agreement, “they have to dismantle, and they have to have a complete and correct [declaration] of all their nuclear activities and their nuclear weapons,” she said.

Bush also noted that Roh submitted a bilateral free trade agreement for parliamentary approval and hopes it will move quickly, Perino said.

The two countries signed the deal in June.

Yonhap

Past and current presidents meet to discuss summit

JoongAng Daily, October 10, 2007

For the first time in nearly a year, President Roh Moo-hyun met with his predecessor yesterday, and conservatives were quick to criticize.

“If it’s true that the meeting today was held only to explain the outcome of the summit, as the Blue House says, all of the former presidents should have been invited,” said Na Kyung-won, the Grand National Party spokeswoman.

Former president Kim Dae-jung and Roh met at a luncheon yesterday at the Blue House, and talked about the recent inter-Korean summit, the presidential office said.

Roh said he felt uncomfortable at first in Pyongyang because the reclusive leader Kim Jong-il reacted negatively to his proposals for special economic zones, according to pool reports of yesterday’s luncheon.

Roh told his predecessor that Kim Jong-il put too much of a focus on autonomy and the importance of driving away outside forces, so Roh felt “at a loss.” But soon, Roh said, he slowly felt “things were going well.”

“I felt the same way too in 2000,” responded Kim Dae-jung.

Roh said, “I persuaded him [Kim Jong-il] by stressing that some of South Korea’s overseas investments need to be sent to North Korea.”

Roh and Kim Dae-jung last met 11 months ago when Kim’s presidential library opened on the campus of Yonsei University.

The conservatives said yesterday’s meeting was designed to help the as yet unnamed liberal candidate in the presidential election in two months.

The Blue House maintained its stance that politics had nothing to do with yesterday’s meeting between Roh and Kim.

“Mr. Kim noted President Roh’s crossing of the inter-Korean border line on foot [during the summit] stirred worldwide interest and he praised the inter-Korean agreement for creating a special peace zone in the Yellow Sea maritime border as an excellent and outstanding idea,” said Cheon Ho-seon, the Blue House spokesman.

By Lee Min-a Staff Writer [mina@joongang.co.kr]

President’s approval rating soars after summit

JoongAng Daily, October 10, 2007

Kim Jong-il gave Roh Moo-hyun’s approval ratings a boost.

Days after the conclusion of the inter-Korean summit, Roh’s rating zoomed up to 43.2 percent on Monday, up from 32.3 percent in a similar JoongAng Ilbo survey a month earlier.

A total of 1,192 people were questioned in the most recent poll.

The poll also questioned people about the presidential election two months away.

The number of people who said they are going to vote for conservative Grand National Party candidate Lee Myung-bak also has grown.

About 50.7 percent of the respondents said they will vote for Lee, 1.2 percent higher than the previous month’s 49.5 percent.

It is unusual for the liberal president’s approval rating to climb in tandem with the number of people who plan to vote for a conservative candidate to replace him, said Ahn Bu-geun, head of the survey company The Opinion. “How well Roh does his job during his time in office is separate from the upcoming presidential elections,” Ahn said.

He said, however, that among those who support Lee, 31.5 percent also approve of Roh’s performance.

The president’s meeting with the North Korean leader seems to have done little to help other possible liberal candidates. Chung Dong-young has a 7.6 percent approval rating, which is the next highest in the poll after Lee Myung-bak. Kwon Young-ghil and other candidates rated at 2 to 3.8 percent in the poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percent.

By Shin Chang-woon JoongAng Ilbo [yhwang@joongang.co.kr]