Which Korea does the roundtable support?

“Roundtable of Hope 2013 and Victory 2012” released an announcement urging the Democratic United Party`s presidential candidate Moon Jae-in and independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo to select a unified candidate for the Dec. 19 election. Moon said in response, “I will remember the request from seniors and do my best for a regime change and political innovation.” Ahn said, “We understand the hopes and anxiety of seniors of our society, and will ponder the request." Reviewing the characteristics and activities so far by the roundtable`s seniors leads to the question on if they are responsible people whose words are worthy of a presidential hopeful’s credits.

Among the core members of the group are Seoul National University professor emeritus Baek Nak-cheong, the Buddhist monk Cheong Hwa, Father Hahm Se-woong and the Rev. Kim Sang-geun. They mediated between Kwak No-hyun and Park Myoung-gee in 2010 in an attempt to unify the candidate for Seoul education superintendent. Kwak, however, was found later to have given his rival 200 million won (183,000 U.S. dollars) in exchange for dropping out of the race. Kwak was recently ousted as superintendent under a Supreme Court ruling that upheld his bribery conviction. As a result, his replacement has to be elected. Despite this confusion, none of the roundtable`s members has mentioned responsibility related to the case.

The roundtable was established by these people in July last year to change the government in 2013 through victory in the Dec. 19 presidential election. The group mediated between the main opposition Democratic United Party and the minor United Progressive Party ahead of the April 11 general elections this year. Thanks to the successful solidarity between both parties, the progressive party won 13 seats in the National Assembly to become the country`s third-biggest party. In the process, people with a pro-North Korea stance made their way into parliament through election fraud, which paved the way for pro-North Korea party members to enter the National Assembly.

The background of most of the roundtable`s core members shows a pro-North stance. The Ven. Cheong Hwa is senior adviser to a Buddhist monks` association for the practice of Buddhism that led to the 2005 construction of a cemetery for North Korean partisans who fought in the Korean War and North Korean spies. Father Hahm and the Rev. Kim were leading members of a national union for democracy and reunification that demanded the removal of the National Security Law, withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea, and reunification of the Korean Peninsula based on confederate system. Behind these religious leaders is Oh Jong-ryeol, a senior adviser to the (South) Korea Progress Solidarity and a hardcore pro-Pyongyang activist.

Their proposed 2013 system basically refers to a confederate system between the two Koreas, which is similar to that of North Korea, though they claim that the system is a solution to contradictions of both capitalism and the present division of the peninsula. The roundtable is not neutral enough to mediate between Moon and Ahn because Moon and Lee Hae-chan, chairman of the main opposition party, are former members of the roundtable. So if the roundtable plays a main role in selecting a unified candidate for the opposition camp, this could cause public distrust due to its impure motives.