Policy issues overtaking regionalism as party basis

Korea's three main political parties, often criticized as personality-driven and organized around geographical regions rather than ideological principles, are beginning to coalesce around platforms and issues, a survey by the JoongAng Ilbo reveals.

The survey, co-written by the Korean Association of Party Politics, showed that on the scale of zero (most progressive) to 10 (most conservative), the ruling Millennium Democrats are at the lower end of the spectrum at 3.7, with the main opposition Grand National Party and the United Liberal Democrats, checking in at a moderate 5.3 and 5.9, respectively.

The survey was distributed to 271 incumbent legislators and nine presidential hopefuls, and returned by 237. Respondents included 125 Grand National legislators, 97 Millennium Democrats, 14 United Liberal Democrats and one from the Democratic People's Party.

The survey polled them on 10 policy issues - foreign policy, revision of the National Security Law, aid to North Korea, reform of conglomerates, class-action lawsuits by minority shareholders, welfare, the tradition of counting only male adults as heads of family clans and abolition of the death penalty. The survey used the 0-to-10 scale to differentiate the answers.

An 11th question asked the legislators and nine presidential aspirants to place themselves on the scale.

The results suggest that the parties are shifting toward policy- and ideology-based groupings, from factional and regional ones.

"It is a natural and a positive development that political parties demonstrate differences along the scale," said Professor Kang Won-Taek of Soongsil University in Seoul. He added, "The environment for parties to grow into policy-based organizations has been established."

On the 10 policy questions, the Millennium Democrats showed decidedly more liberal tendencies on aid to North Korea and abolition of capital punishment. On the clan leadership system and on foreign policy, the United Liberal Democrats were decidedly the most conservative.

On aid to North Korea, the United Liberal Democrats and the Grand National Party stood at 6.2 and 6.1, respectively, in conservative territory. The Millennium Democratic Party was well to the left, at 1.9 ?and 45.2 percent of the Millennium Democrats responded that North Korea aid should be increased.

On revision of the National Security Law, the United Liberal Democrats and the Grand National Party scored 6.4 and 5.4, respectively, and the Millennium Democrats a more liberal 3.3.

On the practice of allowing only men to head family clans, the United Liberal Democrats graded 7.4, meaning they largely endorsed the current system. The Millennium Democrats scored 4.1. The United Liberal Democrats registered a conservative 7. 4 on foreign policy, supporting the traditional alliance between South Korea and the United States. The Grand National Party stood at 5.9 and the Millennium Democrats at 4.7.

On conglomerate reform and class-action lawsuits by minority shareholders, all three parties were in the moderate bracket.

Academic and political watchers attributed the differentiation in political coloration to the Kim Dae-jung administration's aggressive initiatives on North Korean aid, revision of the National Security Law, diversification of South Korea's foreign policy and enhancing the status of women in Korean society. The president's initiatives spurred social debate, which forced legislators and parties to take a stance.

Legislators and presidential hopefuls had mixed response to the survey. The former maritime affairs and fisheries minister, Noh Mu-hyun, a presidential hopeful in the Millennium Democratic Party, objected to his 1.5 rating as a progressive and insisted that in his heart "I would rate my self in the moderate bracket of 4 to 6."

by Special Political Reporting Team