[NOTEBOOK] Kim Dae-jung and Kim Joong-kwon

This Sounds Like a Man Who Will Listen To the Woes Of the People

In the face of difficulty, these two men stand side by side once more, this time as president of the nation and chairman of the ruling party. In the early days of this administration, Kim Joong-kwon served as chief of the Blue House Secretariat, and now President Kim Dae-jung has called him into service again. The tie that binds them is a combination of necessity and trust, and a look at what they've been through together reveals why the president chose him.

The relationship between these two men dates to May 1992 on the day when Kim Joong-kwon, who was at the time President Roh Tae-woo's last chief secretary for political affairs, paid a courtesy call on Kim Dae-jung at his Donggyo-dong home. Later, speaking of his first impressions, Kim Joong-kwon said: "While waiting in his study, I was overwhelmed by the thousands of books in the room. I wondered if he could possibly have read all of them and was surprised when I pulled out a volume on my major, constitutional law, and saw that he had underlined passages and written tiny marginal notes here and there.

Other books were similarly annotated. I felt awed as I realized that this sort of study was the basis of his political prrspicaciousness and depth of insight."

That September, three months before the presidential elections, he went to see Kim Dae-jung again after President Roh announced that he would appoint a neutral cabinet. He wanted to get Kim
Dae-jung's recommendations on members of the opposition to consider for the new cabinet. Kim Dae-jung said that he thought highly of such an effort to maintain neutrality of the cabinet with the
election coming up, but he declined to recommend anyone for posts. Kim Joong-kwon says that again he was deeply impressed.

Kim Dae-jung lost the election and announced his retirement from politics.

Five years later, in 1997, Kim Dae-jung was back in the running and asked Kim Joong-kwon, who is from the opposite side of the peninsula, to join forces with him in bringing about harmony
between their two regions. Kim Joong-kwon took charge of advisory meetings on campaign strategy and Kim Dae-jung won the election. Three days later, he asked Mr. Kim to be chief of the Blue
House Secretariat.

Here is what Kim Dae-jung said about Kim Joong-kwon at that time: "I watched him with great interest from the time he was in the National Assembly. His demeanor and character were proper, and he was someone who had direct experience of the successes and failures of previous administrations. I also needed him to break the chain of interregional antagonism." And so, Kim Dae-jung, who had always been part of the opposition, and Kim Joong-kwon, who
had always been in the ruling camp, joined hands at the start of the new administration. Kim Dae-jung had chosen a man who could complement him perfectly.

Now, two years into his term, the president has put Kim Joong-kwon in his highest position to date, as chairman of the ruling party, giving him the task of strengthening the party to support restructuring and stable government and to promote interregional harmony.

Kim Joong-kwon now stands at the eye of the storm. He is besieged by negative public opinion and a quarrelsome opposition party. During this year, both parties will be setting the tone for the 2002 presidential elections.

Last month, Kim Joong-kwon said he did not have his sights set on the presidency.

Before that, he had asked other members of the party to think of "the government as a boat and the people as the sea." In the midst of political turmoil, this sounds like the voice of a man who will self-lessly listen to the woes of the people, on whose shoulders the government ultimately rests.

The continuation of the connection of necessity and trust between Kim Dae-jung and Kim Joong-kwon will depend on how well he is able to stick to his promise.

The writer is deputy political news editor of the JoongAng Ilbo.