President Losing Own Party’s Support

President Roh Moo-hyun is losing his loyal followers.

Pro-Roh figures, who have been supporting President Roh since Roh was a candidate in the 2002 presidential elections, are turning their backs on him one after another. Some ruling party officials can not hide their frustration, asking themselves, “Where could possibly all the pro-Roh men and women disappear all of the sudden?”

“The government has been blowing its own horn, neglecting pending issues such as North Korea’s nuclear weapons and the missile launch,” said Sangji University Prof. Seo Dong-mahn. Seo was a former member of the president transition committee and former coordination chief of the National Intelligence Service during the early stage of President Roh’s administration.

Kyungpook University Prof. Lee Jeong-woo, former chairman of the presidential committee on policy planning, is also expressing opposing views against the administration’s policies, leading a signature collecting campaign in an attempt to stop the FTA talks.

Jeong Tae-in, former presidential aide on economic policies who has now become a foremost attacker against the government’s push for the free trade pact and President Roh’s 386 confidants (people who are in their 30s, attended university in the 1980s and were born in the 1960s) was also once a loyalist of President Roh. Jeong was not only President Roh’ adviser in the last presidential elections, but also a member of the president transition committee.

The criticism by these former pro-Roh figures implies that President Roh is failing to maintain a systemized administration, trapped by the bureaucratic system and his 386 aides.

“Bureaucrats shouldn’t be the sole decision makers on economics,” Lee said.

“The control system over bureaucrats is not functioning,” Seo said.

“Cheong Wa Dae 386 confidants have no clear philosophy or principles,” Jeong said.

“The extent of criticism by former pro-Roh figures indicates that there is a critical problem in the administration system,” Rep. Choi Jae-cheon of the governing Uri Party said.

In the meantime, some quarters of the ruling Uri Party are saying that the criticism of the former pro-Roh figures on the president is repercussions on their disappointment in losing their posts in the government. Some are also speculating that strong criticism by media on the president eventually made them turn their backs.

However, some experts view it as conflicts over ideological differences. In particular, some leftist intellectuals are expressing their anger saying the clumsy policies of the President Roh’s government, which have left no hope for the left-wingers in the upcoming elections, and that they have triggered pro-Roh figures’ betrayal.

“The pro-Roh figures are condemning the government as the policies of the progressive government are going against their beliefs,” Korea University Prof. Lim Hyeok-baek, a member of the presidential committee on policy planning, said.

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