[The Fountain] The weight of honor (KOR)

SHIM SAE-ROM
The author is a communications team reporter of the JoongAng Holdings.

Sometimes, honor is just honorary. We often use the aura of honor to gently package the absence of substance. Korea’s first “honorary citizen,” named in 2002, was the former national soccer team head coach Guus Hiddink, who was Dutch. The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office also used to have an “honorary prosecutor” system of taking promotional photos of actors, professors and businessmen in the prosecutor’s robe.

An honorary position is a concept other than a paid position. For instance, an honorary professor is selected from those who retired from universities, as stipulated in Ordinance No. 1 of the Ministry of Education. In companies, former chairmen who withdrew from the frontline are called honorary chairmen.

Until the early 2000s, there existed “honorary chairmen” in our politics. Those were the days when imperial presidents wielded unchallenged power and also served as head of the governing party. Around the time when the next presidential candidate of a political party became the new leader of the governing party, the president also would step aside as the “honorary chairman.”

But sometimes, there were provocative attempts to advance this transition. In 1990, when three parties strategically merged to win the next presidential election, Kim Young-sam, chairman of the United Democratic Party, told President Roh Tae-woo in the middle of his term that Kim himself would serve the chairmanship after the party convention and instead the incumbent president should be the honorary chairman. That is an episode former prime minister Kim Jong-pil revealed in his memoir published on the Oct. 7, 2015, issue of the JoongAng Ilbo.

Twelve years later, separation of the party and the government began in earnest, excluding the president from the party power and affairs. Around the time the so-called participatory government led by President Roh Moo-hyun was established, a more advanced democratic party system took shape in both the governing and opposition parties.

The system was aimed at separating the chairmanship of the governing party from the presidency. (The floor leader system also was introduced at that time.) But some expressed concerns about adverse side effects such as “a lack of communication on policies between the party and the government.”

Ten years later, the Moon Jae-in administration wished to resolve this adverse effect by promoting slogans like “the party and the president are one team” or “unity is competency.” As President Moon Jae-in had higher ratings than the approval rating for the Democratic Party throughout his term, his influence helped offset concerns about the separation of powers.

Recently, People Power Party (PPP) lawmakers close to President Yoon Suk Yeol have raised their voices to have the president as the honorary party leader. As the president — a former prosecutor general — entered politics just twenty months ago, he has shallow roots in Yeouido politics. Now, pro-Yoon lawmakers want to revive the packaging of the “honorary” title which disappeared two decades ago.

They must be agonized because they have to recover the close relationship between the party and the president when lawmakers and presidential candidates not loyal to the president are gaining power ahead of the next parliamentary elections in April 2024.

In case a member of the non-Yoon faction wins the chairmanship of the PPP in the Mar. 8 national convention to elect the new chairman of the party, pro-Yoon lawmakers will certainly suffer disadvantages in getting nominations for the legislative elections next year.

But if honor can compensate for a lack of substance, that’s enough. Yoon and key members of the regime must remember the dishonorable history of the conservatives who experienced frequent disasters from the president’s intervention with party affairs, especially nominations for parliamentary elections.

명예라는 이름
심새롬 기자 중앙홀딩스 커뮤니케이션팀 기자

명예는 때로 명예롭기만 하다. 실질의 부재를 점잖게 포장할 때 우리는 종종 명예의 후광을 차용한다. 2002년 탄생한 한국 첫 ‘명예국민’ 거스 히딩크 전 국가대표 축구팀 감독은 네덜란드인이다. 한때 대검찰청이 배우·교수·기업인에 검사복을 입혀 홍보 사진을 찍는 ‘명예검사’ 제도가 있었다. 명예직은 유급직의 대응 개념이다. 명예교수는 대학을 퇴직한 사람 중 선정한다.(교육부령 1호) 기업에서는 주로 경영 2선으로 물러난 전직 회장을 명예회장으로 부른다.

정치권에는 2000년대 초반까지 ‘명예총재’가 존재했다. 제왕적 대통령이 집권당 총재를 겸하며 막강한 권력을 휘두르던 시절 얘기다. 퇴임 즈음 차기 대선 후보가 여당의 새 총재가 되면 임기 말 대통령이 명예총재로 밀려났다. 간혹 이 시기를 앞당기려는 도발적 시도가 있었다. 1990년 3당 합당 당시 김영삼 통일민주당 총재가 임기 중반이던 노태우 대통령에게 “전당대회 뒤 총재는 내가 맡고 노 대통령은 명예총재를 맡는 게 좋겠다”고 주장했다. 고(故) 김종필 전 총리가 생전 본지 회고록(2015년 10월 7일자)에서 밝힌 일화다.

그로부터 12년 뒤 당권과 당무에서 대통령을 원칙적으로 배제하는 당정분리가 본격화했다. 참여정부 출범 전후 여야가 당권·대권 분리와 원내대표제 등 이전보다 진일보한 민주정당 시스템을 갖췄다. 하지만 한쪽에서 “당청간 정책 소통 부족” 등 부작용을 지적하는 우려가 적잖았다. 그래서 10년 후 집권한 문재인 정권은 “당청 원팀” “단합이 곧 유능” 같은 구호 세뇌로 이 부작용을 해소하려 했다. 임기 내내 민주당 지지율을 너끈히 상회한 문 대통령의 진영 영향력이 역할을 했다.

최근 국민의힘 친윤계 의원들을 중심으로 “윤석열 대통령을 명예 당 대표에 추대하자”는 목소리가 나오고 있다. 정치 입문 1년 8개월차. 여의도 정치에 뿌리가 깊지 않은 대통령을 위해 20년 전 사라진 ‘명예’ 포장을 되살려 씌우자는 주장이다. 효율적 당정 운영 회복이 절실하고, 총선 공천이 코앞인데 당내 비윤·비주류가 곳곳에서 득세하니 고민이 깊을 만도 하다. 다만 명예가 실질의 부재를 위안하면 그로 족하다. 대통령의 당무, 특히 공천 개입에 따른 파국이 유독 잦았던 보수 불명예사를 윤 대통령과 정권 핵심들이 꼭 기억할 필요가 있다.