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[Opinion] Rejection Campaigns and Boomerangs

Posted February. 08, 2004 22:57,   

한국어

One of the conveniences of the Internet is easy access to news coverage issued in the past. Through the Internet, I searched the news regarding rejection campaigns in 2000 when the 16th general election was in full swing. Hundreds of news coverage items came up. Among them there were four, which drew my attention. President Kim Dae-jung declared his support to the campaign by saying such a move was a reflection of national will and the timely path of history. In addition, he expressed his worries over legal action against the campaign. Kim made several remarks on it, such as: “Even though the April Uprising and the June Struggle were actions against law, these were justified in accordance with the national will”; “Civic groups have been active even a long time ago”; and “we should understand such moves with a macro perspective.”

Kim Ok-doo, who served as secretary-general of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), promised to reflect the blacklist issued by the coalition of civic groups in nominating candidates. Meanwhile, the Grand National Party and United Liberal Democrats lashed out against it and said, “There are clear connections between the coalition of civic groups and the MDP.” In response, the coalition and the MDP promptly refuted that the claims were nothing but “a groundless grumbling.” A Cardinal Kim Soo-hwan called for the president to manage the election fairly without concerning whether the MDP could be a majority or not, and to prepare himself for it.

Just change the names of the above four and you will find there is little difference from four years ago. The president and the ruling party are enjoying the rejection campaign, the opposition parties are condemning it, and a Cardinal expresses his worry again. However, bear these two differences in mind: the MDP has changed its attitude on the campaign as they were degenerated as the opposition party, making them a target of it; and that even when president Roh’s support groups, who are claiming the title of civic groups, are jumping on the bandwagon, it is highly likely to contaminate the situation more seriously than the previous one.

In this context, the MDP’s situation reminds me of boomerang—a weapon for hunting, used by Australian aborigines—which comes back to the place it was cast after hitting game. If you use it when you are not accustomed to it, the boomerang might hurt you. The MDP used it four years ago without knowing it was coming back again as weapon, hurting itself. This insinuates to us that the same thing might happen to the Uri Party four years later as well—even though it might be unnecessary to be concerned about things four years later in Korean politics—where we do not know what will happen even a few days later.

Editorialist Kim Young-il, Professor in Politics of Sungkyunkwan University

iykim@skku.edu