South Korean Politics and Elections

Experts Discuss Pushing Forward FTA with U.S.

Donga Iblo, March 31, 2008

The Dong-A Ilbo recently interviewed three experts on the free trade agreement between Korea and the United States. Here are the highlights of what they said.

▽ Karan Bhatia, former deputy U.S. Trade Representative: The conclusion of the free trade agreement between Korea and the United States last year was significant progress for both countries. Unfortunately, the agreement has yet to be ratified by the parliament of either country. There are many issues obstructing ratification, but the biggest of all for the United States is import restrictions on U.S. beef by Korea.

▽ Thomas Hubbard, former U.S. ambassador to Seoul: I agree that the first step for the two countries to take toward ratification of the agreement is resolution of the beef issue. Only when this issue is addressed can we could put cars or other areas on the table and see the reactions of the legislatures.

▽ Kim Seok-han, lawyer: The beef issue is essentially not an agenda for the agreement, but now the situation calls for a resolution to move forward. Former Korean President Roh Moo-hyun wanted to settle the affair before leaving office, but to no avail.

▽ Lee Gi-hong, Dong-A Ilbo Washington correspondent: Do you believe the resolution of the beef issue will be enough for the deal to pass through Congress? Last year, Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee which approves all free trade deals, pledged against approving the Korea-U.S. agreement without a renegotiation on the car sector in an interview with The Dong-A Ilbo.

▽ Bhatia: The substantial benefits the agreement will bring to the United States are not widely understood yet. They are not real or tangible. If the beef issue is resolved, which will signal that Korea is opening up its market on par with international standards, it will change U.S. congressional sentiment toward the deal more favorably.

▽ Kim: I disagree. This is a presidential election year in the United States and the Democratic Party has yet to decide its candidate. Trade will remain a thorny and emotional issue. Against this backdrop, Congress is unlikely to ratify the agreement even with the resolution of the beef issue. It is more likely that some congressmen will keep raising issues with certain areas of U.S. interest, including cars as well as beef.

▽ Lee: Korea has agreed to certain demands for renegotiation. Seoul has firmly ruled out a renegotiation on the automotive sector.

▽ Kim: Unfortunately, the fundamental issue is not Korea or trade. U.S. domestic politics is the source of the deadlock. The deal is a good agreement that makes a lot of sense for both countries. Its ratification, however, depends on U.S. political issues. The two countries need to do something to address U.S. concerns over the automotive sector. This is all because of the political conditions in the United States.

▽ Hubbard: Settlement of the beef issue will make a dramatic change in the ambience and create an opportunity for ratification, but the auto sector will remain a serious political issue. I am all for the U.S. Trade Representative’s position of no more revision. Still, some concerns of the U.S. auto industry could require answers from joint efforts of the two countries aside from revision of the deal.

▽ Lee: Let’s assume that the beef issue is resolved. Then do we have enough time to ratify the deal by the end of this year? What strategies the Korean government should adopt?

▽ Bhatia: If Korea wants the deal passed by Congress in the near future, say before this fall, there is not much time left to conduct a campaign to win bipartisan support. The deadline is not far away, if not today or tomorrow.

▽ Hubbard: I agree. There is a good chance that the deal will stall throughout this year, but I am sure whomever the next [U.S.] president might be, the agreement will be eventually ratified. There is no fixed deadline in that sense. But this year is the right time. If the deal is presented before the end of May, there will be enough time.

▽ Kim: We can make ratification happen if we have the will, as far as time is concerned. But the political situation, as well as the beef and automobile issues, will make it difficult. The U.S. economy is worsening, and free trade is becoming less and less popular. The Democratic Party is expected to gain more seats in both the Senate and the House. Its leading presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, both oppose the deal. Rice will be the next source of controversy after beef and automobiles. Obama has already raised the rice issue. It is best for Korea to close the issues as soon as possible. I don’t think the situation will be any better in 2009.

A familiar name used to go after GNP seats

JoongAng Daily, March 28, 2008

When Kang Dong-hun, an independent making his first run for the National Assembly this year, introduces himself, the first thing he tells people is not his name, but that he is a “Pro-Park independent.”

“I am not well-known to voters yet,” Kang explained.

Being “Pro-Park,” in other words standing up for for former Grand National Party Chairwoman Park Geun-hye, has become a political label for many independents running for Assembly berths, particularly in the conservative southeastern region of the country where the woman ― and her dictator father before her ― are household names and very influential.

For Kang, Park’s name was just what he needed to identify himself in Busan, where his heroine outshines even President Lee Myung-bak. On his name card, his message is even clearer: “The independents will save Park Geun-hye.”

Kang is part of a coalition called the Solidarity for Pro-Park Independents, a group that Kim Moo-sung, a GNP lawmaker who walked out of the party after he was eliminated from the nomination list, founded in Busan. Kim claimed that he was removed from the party list only because he supported Park. He announced an independent Assembly bid under Park’s name along with a few rookie politicians. The idea caught on.

It puts the GNP in a peculiar position. One of the best-known GNP figures, Park, is being used as a campaign slogan by non-GNP candidates.


By Lee Ka-young, Namkoong Wook JoongAng Ilbo

GNP infighting rages over vote-buying scandal

JoongAng Daily, March 28, 2008

Another fight broke out within the Grand National Party as party members tried to decide whom to blame for nominating Kim Taek-kee, a lawmaker who lost his candidacy for an Assembly seat after allegedly trying to buy votes.

Some party members accused Lee Bang-ho, the general secretary of the party, for granting Kim candidacy despite protests by nominating committee members who took issue with the fact that he had previously been a member of the liberal Uri Party, a predecessor of the United Democratic Party. He’d only recently joined the GNP, and had been sentenced to a jail term for bribery.

“Former lawmaker Kim Taek-kee was not qualified to apply for candidacy in the first place,” said In Myung-jin, the head of the party’s ethics committee. “Someone broke a principle during the process. We are going to investigate who is at fault and ask that person to take the blame.” In himself blamed Lee, saying that he should have known the party rules better.

Other party members accused Kang Chang-hee, a nominating committee member who was responsible for recruiting Kim.

The bickering turned fierce yesterday as party members also accused Kim of being a Pro-Park Geun-hye lawmaker.

Kang is also known as pro-Park, while Lee Bang-ho is considered loyal to Lee Myung-bak.

“I thought Kim had the highest chance of winning in his district,” said Kang, explaining that Kim was popular in the Taebaek and Jeongseon electoral districts in Gangwon. “I don’t understand why people are asking me whether Park Geun-hye was somehow involved in his candidacy.”

Park showed a flash of anger to reporters who asked whether she was involved in Kim’s nomination.
“Since when does the nomination committee listen to what I have to say?” she said. “If they had [listened] there would never have been people who walked out of the party in the first place.”

By Lee Ka-young JoongAng Ilbo [mina@joongang.co.kr]

Role of Unification Minister Downgraded

Korea Times, March 9, 2007

By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

Cheong Wa Dae Saturday launched a new presidential coordination body on foreign and security affairs, replacing the previous National Security Council (NSC), officials of the presidential office said.

The new coordination body reflects a major shift in the Lee Myung-bak government's policy priority from inter-Korean relations to international cooperation, as it is headed by the foreign minister, said experts on foreign affairs and North Korea.

``The Cabinet-level foreign affairs and security council has been launched to replace the NSC, which was recently abolished following a revision NSC management law,'' a Cheong Wa Dae official said.

Members include the minister of foreign affairs and trade, minister of unification, minister of national defense, director of the National Intelligence Service and the top presidential secretary on foreign affairs and trade, he said.

President Lee has pledged that he will try to resolve North Korea's nuclear problem in close cooperation with the international community, instead of dealing with the issue as an inter-Korean matter.

The previous liberal governments of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun had said the nuclear issue should be resolved both through direct talks between the two Koreas and six-party talks involving the United States, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia.

But the two administrations put more priority on improving inter-Korean ties under their flagship ``sunshine'' policy toward engaging the communist northern brethren than on pressing the North to give up its nuclear weapons program in cooperation with the global community.

Such attitudes often caused policy conflicts on the North's nuclear problem between foreign affairs, security-related ministries, or with the United States.

Inter-Korean relations have warmed following summit talks in 2000 and 2007, but the deadlock due to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program has continued.

North Korea missed a Dec. 31 deadline to disable its main atomic plants and declare all its nuclear programs under the denuclearization-for-assistance pact signed on Feb. 13, 2007.

Under the deal with the five participating countries, the North is to receive one million tons of heavy fuel oil or its equivalent in aid and other concessions from the five other nations in return for disabling its key nuclear facilities and providing a list of its nuclear activities.

But the communist state failed to provide a complete list of its past and current nuclear activities, including an alleged uranium-enrichment program.

In an apparent move to fulfill his pledges, the Lee government reduced the roles of the Unification Ministry, while expanding those of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, under a plan endorsed by the National Assembly last month.

The government also named moderate Kim Ha-joong, former ambassador to China, as unification minister.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr

New party links

Time to update the party links:

Park Geun-hye Losing Influence Inside GNP

Korea Times, March 7, 2008

By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

Rep.Park Geun-hye is losing her influence inside the governing Grand National Party (GNP) as her key confidants have lost nominations for the general elections in April.

The screening committee unveiled the nominations for 20 electoral districts but Park's confidant, Rep. Han Sun-gyo, failed to make the cut. Han served as spokesperson for Park during last year's GNP primaries.

Rep. Yun Kun-young, a confidant of President Lee Myung-bak elected to the National Assembly under the proportional representation system, took Han's electoral district in the nomination.

As for the nomination, the former party chairwoman said Han lost the nomination only because he had worked for her during the primaries. She vied for the GNP ticket with President Lee in the GNP primaries and became a runner-up with a razor-thin margin.

``The worst case scenario has become a reality,'' she lamented, shortly after the nominations were unveiled. ``Han has no problem at all when it comes to the criterion the screening panel members used for the selection,'' she continued.

She cancelled all her appointments for yesterday and today, an aide said.

The aide added Park would wait and see how it turns out in the nominations in South and North Gyeongsang provinces, strongholds of the GNP, and ``could make a grave decision'' if needed.

Stormy reactions are expected to come on Park's side again next week. Party screening committee head Ahn Kang-min made clear there is no change in his plan to replace any troubled incumbents with new faces.

The committee plans to make public the list of candidates for Gyeongsang electoral districts, where supporters of Park are the majority, early next week.

Park's supporters met to chart out their actions in case the worst possible scenario occurs.

They said in an interview that they are deeply concerned about the possible massive elimination of Park's confidants in the nominations.

Some of them said there is a possibility that 40 to 50 percent of incumbent party legislators could be replaced in the screening.

The task force committee chairman's determination to overhaul the nominations was made public after the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) sought a drive to bring transparency to the party's nominations by disqualifying candidates who have been sentenced to a jail term.

A latest JoongAng Ilbo newspaper poll found 49.4 percent of respondents predicted the UDP's nomination reform would have a positive effect on the April 9 parliamentary elections.

The same survey showed 34.5 percent said they had a better impression of the UDP after the ``reform'', or ``coup,'' in the political party's nomination of candidates.

hkang@koreatimes.co.kr

11 Bigwigs Dropped From UDP Ticket

Korea Times, March 5, 2008

By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

The main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) has strengthened criteria in choosing candidates to run in the April 9 National Assembly elections, which will likely leave 11 bigwigs off the party's ticket.

The party, suffering from low popularity, aims at regaining public support by setting rigid rules and revamping its organization. The party's original rules vaguely stipulate that figures being criticized by the public should be disqualified.

Figures to be eliminated under the strengthened rules include former presidential chief of staff Park Ji-won; Kim Hong-up, former President Kim Dae-jung's second son; former lawmaker Kim Min-seok; and Lee Yong-hee, a four-term lawmaker.

Park was convicted of taking 100 million won in bribes from two local conglomerates, while Kim Hong-up was found guilty of receiving about 2.5 billion won from several companies in July 2002.

Kim Min-seok was sentenced to a suspended jail term for receiving 200 million won in illegal political funds from SK Group in June 2005 when he campaigned in the election to pick Seoul mayor. Lee Yong-hee received a suspended jail term for taking bribes.

The party's decision came after Park Jae-seung, chairman of the UDP's screening committee, said Monday that people who have been sentenced to jail terms on any charge should ``without exception'' not be given the chance to run in elections on the party's ticket.

Criteria to screen candidates has been considered a thorny issue because many senior party members and dignitaries are involved in bribery scandals.

The UDP reluctantly tried to strengthen screening standards because the governing Grand National Party (GNP) decided to eliminate those who have been fined, especially for taking bribes, from the candidates' list.

However, the screening panel head, a former president of the Korea Bar Association, opted for all-out attack on the sensitive issue.

When he took the position, many people raised concerns due to his lack of political experience.

The chairman, 59, served as a judge between 1973 and 1981 and has since worked as a lawyer. He chaired the bar association between 2003 and 2005.

He argued the issue with party Co-chairmen Sohn Hak-kyu and Park Sang-cheon.

Earlier, he called on UDP leaders not to intervene in screening to ensure fairness and not to give any chance of re-election to 30 percent of incumbent lawmakers whose electoral districts are in the Jeolla provinces, a UDP stronghold.

He also threatened that he would resign unless party leaders guarantee the autonomy of the committee during a meeting with Sohn.

Some party members complained of his rigidity, saying he should consider the reality of politics here with flexibility.

Screening panel members and the party co-chairmen failed to narrow their differences over the stricter rules on nominations during a marathon meeting Tuesday night. The meeting lasted for 14 hours.

As some lawmakers strongly oppose the criteria, rumors have it that they may leave the party to run as independents in the Assembly elections.

ksy@koreatimes.co.kr

Soaring Wheat Prices, Tuition Campaign Issues

Korea Times, March 5, 2008

By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter


Major political parties have been mapping out their core campaign strategies focusing on soaring wheat prices and college tuition fees to win the working class vote in the April 9 elections.

The parties' unusual interest in specific bread-and-butter matters is an outcome of their decade-long search for tactics that will help them win the hearts and minds of low-income voters.

A Dong A Ilbo newspaper survey last year found 55.2 percent of citizens answered they were either low-income citizens (47.9 percent) or people living below the poverty line (7.3 percent).

The same poll showed 42 percent of respondents considered themselves middle-income families.

To win the majority of seats in the elections, major parties need to target the people who, they claim, are in this socio-economic class.

The governing Grand National Party (GNP) and the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) share the view that their target group of low-income families will be hit hard by rising tuition fees.

The cost of college tuition has gone up more than three times the average rate of inflation, and that for 50 universities located in and around Seoul was hiked by 7 percent this semester.

GNP Spokeswoman Na Kyung-won said party leaders asked the government to work on ways of expanding scholarships and low interest rate loans for college students from working class families.

Rep. Na said the party urged the government to produce effective, feasible ways to realize their plan in the near future.

UDP Spokesman Woo Sang-ho addressed the same concern.

Rep. Woo said: ``The UDP will form a task force team to produce policy responses to cope with the negative impact of rising tuition costs on the livelihood of working class citizens.''

He also said his party ``will also craft countermeasures against inflation.''

President Lee Myung-bak, apparently mindful of the governing GNP's efforts to secure the majority of seats in the elections, also expressed deep concern over the detrimental effects of inflation on lower-class citizens.

Lee addressed the inflation issue as a core public policy item in the first official meeting with Cheong Wa Dae staff.

``Wheat prices have risen by 22 percent on the global crops market. This is a serious problem as many people here consume flour as a core ingredient of their food,'' Lee said.

Flour is a major ingredient in ramyon, which is a widely popular food among working class people.

GNP lawmakers whose electoral districts are in rural areas joined forces to woo farmers to pave the way for their victory in the elections.

Rep. Kwon Oh-Eul told reporters that the GNP plans to help farmers who are expected to be the losers in a free trade agreement with the United States.

Kwon said his party will create an agriculture fund worth 10 trillion won to help farmers heavily in debt plus other supportive measures for those living in the countryside.

hkang@koreatimes.co.kr

N. Korea Rebuffs Calls for Rights Improvement

Korea Times, March 5, 2008

By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

North Korea Wednesday denounced calls by South Korea to improve its human rights situation.

Pyongyang warned that such a demand would severely harm inter-Korean relations, calling it an intervention in its domestic affairs.

On Monday, a Seoul official urged Pyongyang to take ``appropriate measures'' to address its human rights abuses in a keynote speech to the seventh session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

The remarks made by Park In-kook, deputy foreign minister for international organizations and global issues, signaled the Lee Myung-bak government's tougher policy line on the issue, North Korea experts said.

``South Korea will have to be responsible for the irresponsible remarks which will have negative repercussions,'' Choe Myong-nam, a councilor at North Korea's diplomatic mission to Geneva, said during Tuesday's session, using a right of reply.

Choe said South Korea's calls on the North's human rights situation would damage the inter-Korean reconciliation mood developed by two inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007.

He also criticized the European Union's call for extending the mandate of the U.N. special rapporteur on North Korean human rights, saying it is ``extremely politicized.''

North Korea has long been accused of human rights abuse such as public executions, political prison camps, torture and restricting freedom of expression and religious practice.

Human rights groups at home and abroad criticized the liberal governments of former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun for taking a low-profile approach toward alleged human rights abuses in the North, fearing that such a move would damage their flagship ``sunshine'' policy of engaging the poverty-stricken North.

Last November, South Korea abstained from a U.N. vote on a resolution condemning North Korea's human rights violations, which critics called a lukewarm and ``two-faced'' approach toward the human rights issue in North Korea.

The government voted for a similar resolution in 2006 when North Korea test-launched several medium and long-range missiles into the East Sea and conducted its first-ever nuclear test.

From 2003 to 2005, however, the government did not participate in, or abstained from, the U.N.'s votes on the North's human rights record in order not to provoke North Korea.

In a major turnaround, however, center-right President Lee Myung-bak has pledged to take a tougher but more pragmatic line on the North than before. He made it clear that South Korea will demand more reciprocity from North Korea and not hesitate to criticize Pyongyang's ``shortcomings,'' such as its human rights situation.

``I assure you that there will be a change from the previous government's practice of avoiding criticism of North Korea and unilaterally flattering it,'' Lee said in a nationally televised press conference Dec. 20, a day after winning a landslide victory in the presidential election. ``Criticism that comes with affection can help make North Korean society healthy and improve the lives of its people in the long run.''

According to government records, about 19,000 South Korean soldiers went missing in action during the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a permanent peace treaty. North Korean agents kidnapped about 485 South Koreans since the end of the war, they said.

The government estimates some 560 South Korean prisoners of war (POWs) are still alive in the North. Pyongyang, however, denies holding any South Korean against his or her will.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr

Cheong Wa Dae Breaks Tradition

Korea Times, March 3, 2008

By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter

President Lee Myung-bak, who spent his first week at Cheong Wa Dae, is changing customary operations at the presidential office.

One of the noteworthy changes compared to previous administrations was seen at the first Cabinet meeting presided over by Lee, Monday.

Dropping the past procedure in which ministers reported paper-based policies in rotation, Lee proposed that Cabinet members discuss pending issues and generate reasonable policies during the meeting.

Lee will preside over the discussion-based Cabinet meeting one or two times per month and plans to entrust Prime Minister Han Seung-soo with the other meetings and a variety of bills requiring Cabinet endorsement.

``For effective discussion, the number of participants for the meeting will be 25 or less from the previous 30,'' presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said. ``The Cabinet meeting will usually start at 8 a.m. every Tuesday.''

The number of participants at the first meeting was 23, including the President.

Apart from the regular meetings, President Lee proposed the Cabinet ministers discuss issues by holding ``extraordinary'' meetings without being restricted by time whenever there are important issues.

The number of presidential secretaries attending also fell from 21 to 10.

Under Lee's instruction, Cheong Wa Dae has replaced the rectangular-type conference table with an oval table. ``The oval-type table will be more suitable for informal discussion,'' spokesman Lee said.

For sufficient preparation for discussion, the spokesman said, Cheong Wa Dae plans to notify ministers of discussion topics one or two weeks ahead of the meeting.

Except for office rooms for chief of staff and senior secretaries, the rooms for ordinary secretaries were closed.

The President also instructed Cheong Wa Dae officials to use public transport when they commute, saying: ``These days when oil prices are high, public officials should act as models.''

When Lee visited a company Saturday as part of his pledge to check the conditions of small and mid-sized enterprises himself, he was waiting in line with a plate to be served lunch at the company's cafeteria.

In addition, more streets and the fountain in front of the presidential office will be open to the public.

``Cheong Wa Dae will be one of the popular tourist attractions in Seoul for residents and foreigners,'' the spokesman said.

At the first Cabinet meeting, ministers had to serve coffee or tea themselves, with creamer and hot water.