How Chang Je-won must be feeling

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How Chang Je-won must be feeling

Published: 01 Mar. 2024, 09:14 Updated: 05 Mar. 2024, 14:30

Kim Hyun-ki
The author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s second visit to Korea around March 30 is not fixed. Kishida mulled the option of visiting Seoul in March after his planned state visit to the United States was pushed back to April. He could have felt obliged under the joint statement of carrying out “shuttle diplomacy” through regularized visits to explore future-oriented relationships during the last summit in Seoul in May last year after the governments agreed to bury the hatchet over the lawsuits over wartime labor compensation after President Yoon Suk Yeol proposed a third-party remuneration scheme in March earlier in the year. He reportedly had his aide write up a message envisioning a future relationship.

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida holding a joint press conference at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul after their bilateral summit on May 7 last year. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The timing could not be better. The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will be opening their 2024 regular season at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul for the U.S. professional baseball league’s first game in Korea. Japan-born MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani will be debuting in Dodgers uniform after he joined the team last year and play against the Padres’ Korean infielder Kim Ha-seong. The two government heads watching the game with their countrymen playing as MLB stars at or near their home would be a memorable sight. Outside the baseball field, they have a handful of serious issues to talk about. Yet diplomats of the two countries do not agree to the plan. Bureaucrats tend to be cautious, possibly in order to not take the blame later on. Korea’s Foreign Ministry worries the Japanese leader’s visit to Seoul ahead of the April 10 parliamentary election could work unfavorably for the conservative governing party. Its Japanese counterpart also agrees the summit could bring more harm than good to its interests. The leaders are keen to meet as soon as possible in spite of the impact on election, as the neighbors have a lot to discuss amid the growing prospects of Donald Trump returning to the White House. But all bureaucrats fret about is the possible onus falling on their laps should the summit not produce the desired outcome. It had been the same a year ago after Seoul came up with the idea of a third-party fund compensating for wartime forced labor. The Korean embassy in Tokyo worked hard to draw donations to the fund. But its Foreign Ministry headquarters in Seoul stopped it from working too hard. It feared the backlash after former president Park Geun-hye was impeached for receiving too much corporate donations and funding.

Their self-interest however appears cute against the sight of political parties and their members clashing over the nomination process. The majority opposition Democratic Party (DP) is on a purging spree. The faction loyal to DP chief Lee Jae-myung has carved out members faithful to the last president Moon Jae-in, placing them culpable for the loss of the ruling power. The elimination has an obvious goal of getting rid of any competition or critics getting in the way of Lee’s bid for the next presidency. But Lee, who had lost to President Yoon, is self-pardoned from any onus. He has vowed to not bow out of the race in April. If generational change or reform is the motive of the controversial nomination process, all the key figures under Moon administration including Im Jong-seok, Choo Mi-ae and Cho Kuk must stay away from the election. So should Lee and his inner circle like Jung Chung-rae and Jang Kyung-tae, who have damaged the party’s name through their attempt to privatize the party. But nobody is taking any responsibility.

The governing People Power Party (PPP) is hardly any better. Jang Sung-min, former senior secretary to Yoon for future strategy, predicted the conservative party could secure 150 to 160 seats of the 300-seat legislature, versus the DP’s 110, in the upcoming election. Anyone can harbor wishful thinking. But he should be the last person to make any prediction publicly. Jang, who was in charge of spearheading the Busan World Expo bid at the presidential office, assured the vote would be a close one a day before the vote day at the Bureau International de Expositions — where two-thirds chose Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, over Busan last November.

Despite the dismal result — 119 versus 29 — over the World Expo bid, Jang was awarded with a single candidacy to run in the election. It’s no wonder he goes on making ridiculous predictions. He cannot be blamed for his audacity. No one in cabinet nor the presidential office have offered to take responsibility for the landslide defeat. Due to the practices of the elites, our society is increasingly taking accountability for granted. The only political figure to voluntarily withdraw himself was Chang Je-won, one of the closest aides to President Yoon. Other key aides Kwon Seong-dong and former PPP head Kim Gi-hyeon all managed to defend their constituencies. The same went for other loyalists to the sitting president. Those who keep low without taking any liability survived in the end. I wonder what Chang would be thinking these days. Would he be regretting for his hasty action? Or would he be self-congratulating for being on the rare field and upholding the ancient Chinese wise man Mencius’ saying that a man of virtue does not hold others but himself responsible.