President behind the President

In the evening, Aug 30, Park Jie-won, Presidential Chief of Staff, invited reporters to his residence on the pretext of housewarming party and lamented, "I don`t know today is the day for housewarming or for `house-leaving`."

He appeared to have the emerging criticism in mind that he should hold accountable for the failure to get confirmation for two premier designates from the National Assembly.

But Park said, "The Presidential Secretariat will try heart and soul with loyalty and unity to help the president get a good result as his tenure is closing to an end," indicating that there might be no changes in his post. Some people advised him not to hold the housewarming party since it was scheduled to be held right after the National Assembly vetoed premier designate Chang Dae-whan. But he refused the suggestion, saying that there was no reason to cancel the party.

Earlier at a meeting at the Presidential office of Chungwadae, which was held on July 31 after the National Assembly turned down then premier designate Chang Sang, Some people argued that somebody should take responsibility, but President Kim Dae-jung is reported to have dismissed the argument.

Even when the second confirmation motion for Chang Dae-whan was rejected by the National Assembly, Chungwadae officials said, "We have nothing to lose any more. And the influence of the Chief of Staff will not be threatened."

Ironically enough, although the political footing of President Kim has severely weakened, the power and influence of Park has more strengthened.

The Grand National Party (GNP) has even argued that Park has gone beyond his role as the President`s right-hand man and actually playing president, who plots and coordinates the draft-dodging scandal.

Of course, Chungwadae strongly denies it, but an official in the government said, "It is true that the old President with no one to rub his shoulder, has entrusted his `faithful servant` with much portion of his power."

Park was appointed as Presidential Chief of Staff a day after President Kim was released after being hospitalized for overwork and stomachache, early April. At that time, President Kim badly needed someone who took care of him since he was suffering from a corruption scandal involving his third son.

There is another example that shows the close relationship between President Kim and Park. Nov 22, 1999, President Kim offered the post of presidential chief of staff to Park, then Culture and Tourism Minister. But Park turned down his offer, saying, "I am the person who fits for the post at the end of your tenure." He recommended Rep. Han Gwang-ok, saying that now is time to improve the relations with the United Liberal Democrats. On the very next day, Rep. Han became presidential chief of staff.

Finally he took helm of the Presidential Secretariat, and boasted that he was a `prepared chief of staff`. In particular, he has excelled in taking control of the organization.

Close aides of President Kim are all confidants of Park. Most of presidential secretaries and administrators have been recommended by Park. His ability to take command over the organization is clearly shown in the fact that there has been no gossip about personnel management since he took office as Presidential Chief of Staff.

Park has flawlessly control interviews with and reports or briefings to President Kim. Some officials in Chungwadae even said that there is no longer `A Report`. `A Report` means that officials in the National Intelligence Agency and other senior presidential secretaries directly report to the President. But since Park became the Chief of Staff, every report has gone to the President through Park.

The influence of the Presidential Secretariat on the Cabinet has significantly increased. A secretary dispatched from a government ministry said, "When a minister met Park in the first days of his inauguration, the ministry was put on the alert. When Park asked a question the minister did not know, the minister put the squeeze to his staff to find out what was going on."

The biggest challenge for Park these days is to reinforce the loosened discipline in the officialdom. When the former president of the Korea Institute for Curriculum Evaluation leaked documents related to the biased description in history textbooks to the GNP, Park sacked him immediately, and instructed Police to investigate the case as a number of allegations sprang up.

Some observers say that Park`s influence played a role in the decision to keep in office Park Young-gwan, a senior prosecutor in charge of the ongoing investigation of the alleged conscription scandals. An aide to Park said, "Justice Minister Kim Jung-gil didn`t make up his mind up to the last minute," indicating Park exercised his influence on Kim`s final decision.

At the monthly meeting of the Secretariat yesterday, he encouraged staff, saying that the most worrisome is that Chungwadae fell into the state of lethargy after the parliamentary vetoes against two premier designates.

Besides his loyalty to President Kim, his excellent skill of treating people has been referred as one source of his power. Recently he made a deep bow to reporters as a token of his hope for good relationship with them. He has frequently said that he could take every risk for the sake of the President.

Park also says that he will buy a studio near the President`s residence after President Kim stepped down. He seems to be committed to protecting the President to the end.

But Some people in the Millennium Democratic Party are worry about the power concentrated on Park. A senior lawmaker said, "President Kim has been addicted to Park. We all know there are problems, but it is too late to tackle the problems. So we regard it as a necessary evil and just resigned ourselves to it." Then he asked back sarcastically, "Have you ever seen faithful retainers winning over a eunuch?"

Chol-Hi Lee klimt@donga.com