[Opinion] “Hereditary Politicos”

When Keizo Obuchi, then-Japanese prime minister, died of a stroke in May 2000, the Obuchis had a family meeting. It was to decide who will run for the regional Parliamentary election. The eldest daughter, a 32 year-old illustrator, and the son, a 28-year-old salary man, refused the position saying that they do not have what it takes to be a politician. In the end, the second daughter of the three siblings, Yuko, an outgoing 26-year-old, was coerced into running for a Parliamentary seat. The voters cast their ballots for Obuchi just for the name’s sake.

The tradition of inheriting is deep rooted in the Japanese political circle. There are 122 hereditary Parliament members who were elected at the general election in November 2003, which is a quarter of the total number. Eight out of 17 members in the Koizumi Administration are second and third generation politicians. Even the Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi started his political career after his grandfather, inheriting a political base of the county. Secretary-General Shinjo Abe of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is the son of the former Prime Minister Nobuske Kishi’s daughter and the former Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe. Some even said that the secretary-general vented his father’s spite of failing to become a prime minister because of Nakasone’s interference when the LDP excluded the former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone from proportional representation.

Even in Korea, there was a sudden increase in the number of second generation candidates who are taking after their fathers in becoming a politician. The children of the three former presidents, Kim Young-sam, Kim Dae-jung, and Park Jeong-hee, who ruled Korean politics back in the 1970s, are entering the political scene. Also, some people are talking about a son running for a seat in the assembly to restore honor for his imprisoned father. When we look at the case of two presidents from the Bush family, political bequeathing is not a distinctive feature of East Asia.

Japanese call these hereditary politicians fortunate ones who inherited the land (regions), the bag (wealth), and the figurehead (family name) all at once. It is like starting a race few steps ahead of the starting line. The Japanese political circle is trying to implement a law to prohibit candidacy of the children of a deceased politician within a certain period of time after the incident. The current trend of Korea is ironic to gain momentum at such a digitalized time. The bigger the halo of the predecessor, bigger the responsibilities should be. I would like to believe that there are no sons and daughters who are running to take advantage of their family honor.

Park Won-jae, a correspondent to Tokyo parkwj@donga.com