[Opinion] The Three Kims

Former President Kim Young-sam and former chairman of the United Liberal Democrats Kim Jong-pil postponed their Friday dinner meeting on Thursday. They said they wanted to avoid possible political misunderstandings. However, it is not difficult to guess the intention of the meeting.

Former President Kim Dae-jung has virtually resumed his political activities, claiming, “The nation cannot exist without the southwestern region.” This must have served as a stimulant for them to have a gathering. They seemed to have decided to take action against Kim Dae-jung and President Roh Moo-hyun, who seem to be uniting to consolidate the political power of the ruling party. Some argue, “Kim Young-sam and Kim Jong-pil want to help unite pan-conservative forces.”

The three Kims have witnessed the history of Korean politics. Kim Young-sam started his political career in 1951 and was active until 1998, Kim Dae-jung in 1954 through 2003, and Kim Jong-pil in 1963 through 2004. Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung were defeated, respectively, in the presidential elections once and four times before they finally became president. Although Kim Jong-pil was never elected as president, he served nine terms as lawmaker and two terms as prime minister for 7 years. No wonder people refer to him as a master of politics.

Many people are more familiar with their English initials rather than their full names, as Koreans often refer to Kim Dae-jung as DJ, Young-sam as YS and Kim Jong-pil as JP. They are now all in their 80s, an age to have great-grand children.

Their love-hate relationship is complicated. YS and DJ were friends and rivals who led the democratization movement in Korea. The two, however, failed to reach an agreement on who would become the sole candidate of opposition parties for the presidential elections in 1987. The rift between the two became wider after the surprise merger of three political parties in 1990. YS and JP joined hands in the merger, but the alliance was ruptured after JP withdrew from the party just before local elections in 1995. The two, however, have met several times since JP announced his retirement in 2004. DJ and JP were united in the presidential elections in 1997, but the two separated in 2001 over the issue of dismissing Lim Dong-won, Unification Minister at that time.

Although the three Kims have contributed a lot to the development of Korean politics, they are also the ones responsible for creating regionalism. Although the three have enjoyed great popularity in their political bases, this has aggravated regionalism. We cannot stop them from worrying about the nation, but it does not look good for the three Kims to be interfering with politics anymore. Water that has spun the mill wheel before can no longer spin the wheel now. The same case may be made for the three Kims.

Lee Jin-yong, Editorial Writer, jinnyong@donga.com