Prime Minister Standing Face to Face with President Kim

Prime Minster Kim Suk-soo, during his testimony before Congress, made a statement that directly contracts the "direction" of President Kim Dae Jung. Political analysts as well as politicians are racking their brains to figure out the real intent.

On Tuesday, the first day of his congressional testimony, Prime Minster Kim opined, concerning Kim Dae Jung administration`s $200 million secret aid scandal, "The prosecution should have launched an investigation. Most citizens seem to believe it is wrong not to prosecute the case." His opinion was leaning toward the critical position taken by the Grand National Party.

Again yesterday, Kim would not recognize the checkbook diplomacy as an act of the president, which is immunized from prosecution under the law. On the contrary, he stated, "Determination of the scandal`s nature should not come first. Facts should be found first. It could be found by the prosecution or an independent counsel. It`s in the discretion of Congress." Hearing his statement, Millennium Democrats, who are avid followers of President Kim Dae Jung, hollered at him, saying, "Who appointed you? Didn`t you forget that?"

In the Feb. 5th Prime Minster`s version of the State of the Union Address, he argued, "We have to conduct the North-South economic programs in a more transparent way. That way, we could win the trust and support of citizens. I will make more efforts to achieve that goal."

In response, Rep. Kim Young-sun of the Grand National Party thought highly of Prime Minister Kim and said, "Mr. Kim was a respected Supreme Court Justice. Principle and law is what he respects and cherishes. However hard politicians may try to force-feed him with the immunity theory, he would not cave in to it." On the other hand, quite a number of Millennium Democrats do not value Kim`s action and say, "Now, the incumbent administration is getting close to the end. That is why he could say that way, isn`t it?"

Aware of the criticism from Democrats, his yesterday`s testimony seemed to be focused on distancing himself from the Grand National Party members. When asked whether he agreed to the party`s definition of the checkbook diplomacy as a betrayal of the whole nation, he replied, "Nothing has been confirmed yet. Thus, I can`t make any determination on the legality of the issue."

Sung-Won Park swpark@donga.com