Kim Jong-pil's Ambiguous Behavior

How shameless politicians can be! We can not stop our continuing concerns over the political condition of the nation when one observes the procedures that took place surrounding the appointment of United Liberal Democratic President Lee Han-dong to be the new Prime Minister. After serious consideration we believe that the current political condition has reached such a nadir of responsibility and decorum that it will discourage the youth of our country from taking part in the political process.

Lee Han-dong, the nominee for prime minister, said that it was inevitable that his party's coalition with the Millennium Democratic Party should be suspended during the general election in order to compete for votes. Now, with the election over he says that it is quote, "a logical step to renew the coalition." Is it acceptable to lie in order to win votes? How can we trust a government that so baldly lies to its constituents in the name of "strategy"? Especially since the main practitioner of this type of "power by any means" political philosophy is set to receive the prime ministership as his reward? Chong Wa Dae is not any better. The Blue House justifies its actions with the excuse that the Prime Minister's office was offered to the ULD in the "inaugural spirit of the joint administration". However, the idea of a joint administration between the president's Millenium Democratic Party and the ULD was premised on the adoption of a cabinet system. Since the cabinet system will not be introduced, in what sense is it applicable to carry on the inaugural spirit of the joint government?

Honorary ULD President Kim Jong-pil had previously announced that, "we are not in the position to recommend a prime minister, nor do we have a plan to recommend one" only a few days ago. However, he told the ULD secretary general, who visited Kim at Cheju Island, "I agreed tacitly. It was for the sake of our party." When it was pointed out that people would consider the nomination of Lee for prime minister as a coalition between the ULD and MDP, Kim commented that, "who said we would cooperate?". When the president of his political party was nominated as prime minister, how can people understand his logic that it is still not a coalition with the government?

We do not wish to restate the criticisms and insults that Kim Jong-pil hurled toward the MDP during the general election period. However, we would like to question him, if he really believes that it is an appropriate political action to deceive the people with unreasonable justifications.

In our nation's politics, the 'three Kims' [Dae-jung, Young-sam, Jong-pil] have survived due to their obstinate attitudes and stubbornness. If he thinks that he can survive again by continuing with the attitudes from the three-Kim era, he is definitely miscalculating. People are not easily deceived by his simple methods, as seen by the results of the last general election. He criticized the MDP government "I would only be deceived once, but not twice." We already showed him that we do not intend to be deceived by him several times.

Kim Jong-pil should not ridicule the electorate with his fuzzy positions and slippery words. If he intends to continue his political career, he should provide reasonable explanations regarding his beliefs and ideas. If he has some other reason to hide, he should reveal them, as well. If his explanations do not persuade the nation, then it is time to put an end to his obsolete political career.

by Choi Sang-yon