`President Kim Loses Authority in Many Areas`

The recent American issue of Newsweek (August 27) reported that President Kim Dae Jung will end up looking like a lame duck if the prosecution cannot prove the tax evasion charges against media owners.

Newsweek wrote, ``Although the Kim Dae Jung administration claims that the tax investigation was needed in order to eliminate irresponsible Korean presses, when you consider whom the investigations target one cannot help feeling that this is a familiar tactic.``

Further, ``President Kim may have 18 more months in office, but he has lost power in many areas. The economy is heaving a painful sigh from the impact of IT businesses going down and the Sunshine Policy has yet to bear any fruit as the situation got even more overcast with North Korea recently taking an adversarial stance.``

Newsweek forecast that, ``If the three traditionally conservative papers lose their power, President Kim will be able secure his position again, but if the charges against the press owners drop, President Kim will become a very unpopular lame duck.``

``Even if the charges hold, the opposition against President Kim has a point. Ultimately, President Kim will end up putting a gag in the most forceful and vocal critics` mouths.``

Newsweek added, ``People are shocked at the fact that a former dissident like President Kim would use such tactics to make his voice heard.``

Lee Jong-Hoon taylor55@donga.com