[Opinion] When DJ Meets JP

It seems that the Korean people were not interested in the two Kims’ past, when DJ united with JP in Novemever 1997.

Two days after lieutenant colonel Kim Jong-Pil carried out a coup helping major general Park Jung-Hee on May 16, 1961, DJ had to take off his house representative badge (Inje, Kangwon), which he earned with great difficulty after failing three times. Although DJ’s discord with the military government had started in this way and continued through series of abduction, imprisonment, death sentence, and exile, they were all past affairs. Since JP also suffered insult from younger military academy classmates, and was discarded by YS in 1995, when the two Kims decided to unite to make a power change, people could not stop them.

At that time, the two Kims agreed to adopt a coalition cabinet system, and to give the United Liberal Democrats priority in naming a new president and a new prime minister.

In short, JP’s intention was to be a `prime minister who controls` after two years. It is hard to know how many Korean people believed the agreement would be kept at that time. Probably, most people might not have expected the agreement to be fulfilled. It is also hard to say whether the two Kims themselves were sure about the plausibility of the agreement. Although the thought, `how come they can give up such hard won power after two years?` does not apply, the adoption of the coalition cabinet system was a hopeless dream for JP due to the opposition party.

The two Kims, both veteran politicians, should have known this. However, they signed the agreement. DJ was in a hurry to earn votes from Chungcheong Province, and for JP, it was insurance for `half of the power`. Because of this, the fact that the DJP agreed to postpone the adoption of the coalition cabinet system appears to have been an already-planed scheme.

Further elaboration does not seem to be necessary. But it has to be pointed out that JP, who claimed to be in the opposition party before the general election held in April last year, changed his mind to form a coalition with DJ because of the `vote`. If the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) had become the majority from last general election, and the ULD had not suffered a crushing defeat with just 17 seats, DJP might not have united together.

The restored DJP coalition broke after 8 months. Whether they announce the end of the coalition is a matter of formality. When they decided to vote in the National Assembly, it was all over.

While DJ sees the resignation of Unification Minister Lim Dong-Won as a matter of the people`s will rather than political power, JP recalls his memories of military academy friends who were killed in the Korean War. For JP, the expulsion of Minister Lim is a duty he must uphold as a survivor.

There is a difference here in worldview that is hard to compromise. There has been an ideological chasm between the two Kims whose life-paths have been so different. This gap is the reason why the DJP coalition cannot escape the limitations of an `unstable contracted partnership`.

The reason why DJ, who may have known this, united with JP was solely because of the `number`. Why did DJ give JP several minister positions? Why did he give four MDP lawmakers to the ULD? It was all because of the `number`. It was because of DJ’s obsession to outnumber the Grand National Party (GNP).

However, the majority achieved by uniting with the ULD was virtually a falsehood. A majority by one seat cannot make a `politics of number` or `politics of power` work.

It is unfortunate to watch DJ sticking to this `illusory majority` for such a long time. As I (the author) suggested in a `candid advice` offered earlier, if DJ had behaved like a great leader and transcended the ruling or opposition party politics by abandoning the position of the MDP chairman when he received the Nobel Peace Prize last year, he might not be facing this kind of troublesome situation. Although it is too late, he has to go the right way and accept the reality of a `majority opposition party, and minority ruling party`. He has to listen to the quiet voice inside, rather than paying too much attention to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il`s return visit. When DJ met JP, the path to the break was already set. The two Kims cannot walk together because they have taken extremely divergent paths.

Chun Jin-Woo (editorialist)

Chun Jin-Woo youngji@donga.com