[Opinion] Reversing the Trend of the Small Governmental Party and Big Non-governmental Party

The 17th general election is significant in that it changed the trend of having a “small governmental party and big non-governmental party” into a “big governmental party and small non-governmental party” in a legal and reasonable way for the first time. We have artificially reversed the trend of having a “small government party and a big non-government party” into a “big government party and a small non-government party” in an unreasonable way three times until now. Lee Seung-man’s administration solved the “small government party and big non-government party” problem in an illegal way, and the Roh Tae-woo and Kim Dae-jung administrations did it in a legal but unreasonable way.

--The first “small government party and big non-government party” appeared between 1948 and 1952. President Lee Seung-man overcame it with military coup, which was illegal. While proclaiming martial law and threatening Congress by mobilizing the army, President Lee amended the constitution, succeeded in re-election and assumed the reins of Congress. This is known as the “Pusan Political Crisis” and “The Selected Amendment of the Constitution.” The result of the 13th general election in 1988 was also a “small government party and a big non-government party.” Driven by suffering from “dominance of Congress,” President Roh Tae-woo solved this problem by combining three political parties, except the Peace and Democratic Party. The combining itself was not illegal, but considering that it happened in a secret chamber, with access to memorandums about amendments to the constitution, it is hard to assess it as reasonable.

--With the beginning of Kim Dae-jung administration in 1998, the “small government party and big non-government party” has reappeared. President Kim tried to solve this problem in the legal and unreasonable way, which included scouting or lending congressional representatives, but failed. Although he tried the populist strategy, which mobilized citizens to support outer districts, he failed to reverse “small government party and big non-government party.” This legacy was handed over to the Roh Moo-hyun government.

--With an effort to assume the reins of the congress, the Roh administration succeeded in winning more than half of its seats. In terms of political history, this is the first example of reversing a “small government party and big non-government party” situation into a “big government party and a small non-government party” using a legal and reasonable process, for the first time. By doing so, the Roh administration succeeded in changing a divided government into a unified government.

At least in terms of “process,” the 17th general election contributed to the development of Korean politics.

Kim Il-young Guest Editorial Writer •a professor at Sungkyunkwan University

lykim@skku.edu