YS Calls Pan-National Rally to "Save" South Korean Democracy

Home > National > Politics

print dictionary print

YS Calls Pan-National Rally to "Save" South Korean Democracy

Former President Kim Young-sam Sept. 8 said that he will launch a national rally to "save" the nation's democracy, as he continued with his attack against the government's North Korean policy at a news conference held in his Sangdo-dong home.

"An era of chaos is descending on Korea because President Kim Dae-jung has been deceived by the North's manipulations, despite it having not renounced its policy of communizing the South," the former president told reporters.

"As we face the danger of losing out for our nation, I have decided to hold a national rally to urge the people to uphold our democratic system," the former president said.

Branding the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il the "ringleader" of a communist regime who overnight transformed himself into a peacemaker, he said that "we will also simultaneously launch a petition to collect 2,000 signatures to condemn the anti-national criminal acts carried out by Kim Jong-il."

He added that the participants to the rally would be "people from all walks of life who share a commitment to upholding the Republic of Korea and its democracy."

But "leading the pan-national rally and the signature-collection drive will be the Minju Mountaineering Club (MMC)," he said. The MMC is an organization that serves as Kim's political power base.

He said that he would begin revamping the MMC starting next month, to gear up for the national rally and the petition. Some political analysts said that the former president may well be setting the stage for a political comeback with his visible attack against the government's forward-looking North Korean policy.

On President Kim's pledge to prevent for good another outbreak of a fratricidal war between the two Koreas, the former president blasted it as "an absurd remark that inevitably calls for withdrawal of the U.S. forces, if his words are indeed sincere." He again repeated his criticism against his successor, saying President Kim was violating the Constitution with his North Korean policy.
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)