[Opinion] Roh Takes Credit and Blame for Grand Coalition Scheme

On July 28, 2005, a letter was delivered to members of Uri Party, which was then the ruling party. It was written by a person who called himself a “well-known politician.” It was a letter from President Roh Moo-hyun that filled 8 pages. The letter, titled, “The Proposal for Political Reform and Regional Composition,” was the signal for the following “grand coalition government” movement that disturbed the political community.

The main point of the letter was that Roh would offer the Grand National Party the regime so that the ruling party could reform the voting district system.

In the middle of last month, about 2 years after the letter was sent, President Roh had an interview with Ohmynews and described the suggestion for a grand coalition government as “an error engendered by pride.” He said, “I meant to throw a grenade (at the enemy), but it exploded in our camp.” He added, “I expected the Grand National Party to feel confused, but the opposite side turned out to be very calm while our side argued.” Then Chairwoman Park Geun-hye of the Grand National Party rejected the proposal at once, while the Uri Party sunk deeper into internal confusion.

Ohmynews commented that it was the first time President Roh clearly admitted his fault for a political decision. But what is important here is that the interviews held in mid-September (September 2 and 16) had to wait for about a month until the end of the 2007 inter-Korean summit before being released. That is not easy to understand. The only possible answer is that Cheong Wa Dae and Ohmynews, a media outlet categorized as ‘pro-Roh,’ agreed to delay the reports.

According to a joint research by Dong-A Ilbo and the Korea Research Center, the approval rating for President Roh surpassed 50% after the inter-Korean summit. It was expected that the summit would raise his approval rating by a certain degree, but the rise was steeper than expected and hit a new high. Playing the grand coalition government card to upset the Grand National Party shows how competent and crafty President Roh is as a politician. Giving an interview now is a play for support from pro-Roh voters who may be wishing it was 2002 again.