North Fest Stays on the Boil

Home > National > Politics

print dictionary print

North Fest Stays on the Boil

The Blue House said Thursday that Unification Minister Lim Dong-won will be retained, despite calls in both the ruling coalition and the opposition for his resignation in the wake of political problems in the North Korean capital during a joint Korean Liberation Day celebration.

In a threat to the unity of the ruling political coalition, the United Liberal Democrats demanded that the government sack the minister despite its alliance with President Kim Dae-jung's Millennium Democratic Party.

Several officials of the United Liberal Democrats demanded Mr. Lim's head, and Byun Ung-jun, spokesman for the United Liberal Democrats, said, "The comments were not made in their individual capacities."

One Millennium Democrat, Representative Chough Soon-hyung agreed, saying that the minister will be a political burden for the party in the October special elections.

But top aides at the Blue House rejected those arguments.

"Sacking Minister Lim would greatly weaken the administration's North Korea policy," said one official who asked that his name not be used.

Some political analysts said any action against Mr. Lim would deal an irretrievable blow to the president's sunshine policy. Neither, they say, would Mr. Lim's ouster go down well with North Korean authorities who are familiar with him because of his work as Seoul's top negotiator with North Korea.

Political watchers said that the strident calls by the United Liberal Democrats are a strategy of the party chief, Kim Jong-pil, to increase his sway inside the coalition. The ULD has grown restive recently, signalling an increased willingness to go it alone or join with the opposition Grand National Party on some issues as the December 2002 presidential election draws nearer. Kim Jong-pil is widely believed to be considering a bid.

The unification minister, is one of a few trusted aides of President Kim Dae-jung in the administration. He has long provided the theoretical basis for Mr. Kim's "sunshine policy." Before joining the administration as senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs and national security in 1998, he headed the Kim Dae-jung Peace Foundation for Asia-Pacific Region.

This is his second stint as unification minister; he held the post for seven months in 1999.



by Kim Jin-kook

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)