Verbal sparring heats up between Roh and progressives

Posted on : 2007-02-21 14:03 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
President’s assault on liberals is met with backlash
Kim Chang-ho
Kim Chang-ho

Representative Roh Hoe-chan of the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party fired the latest salvo against President Roh Moo-hyun’s recent criticism of South Korea’s progressive camp, calling the president’s comments a "war of words."

In an open letter to the president, posted on his Web site on February 20, the lawmaker said, "President Roh jumped into the game of extending the forces of old vested interests by labeling himself as a ‘flexible progressive.’ "

"President Roh argues that economic polarization has worsened since previous governments and he is trying to overcome the problem. However, people are angry over the Roh Moo-hyun administration’s policies not because they have failed to reduce the gap between haves and have-nots, but because they have actually continued to widen the gap," the lawmaker said.

"The fact that more than 60 percent of employees are [part-time or short-term contract] workers shows the government has sat and watched the ‘flexibility’ in the labor market increase without placing due regulations on firms from seeking part-time workers," Rep. Roh said. "The progressive camp opposes the proposed free trade agreement with the U.S. not because the camp is against market opening on a whole, but because reckless openness without prudence will eventually worsen economic polarization.

In particular, Rep. Roh accused President Roh of falsely labeling himself as a ‘flexible progressive.’ "While the progressive camp needs to be flexible, it won’t spell flexibility for the progressive camp if it accepts the [current] ‘flexibility’ of the labor market or the ‘strategic flexibility’ of U.S. troops stationed here," the lawmaker said.

Strategic flexibility is the name of Washington’s plan to shuffle its troops worldwide in order to render them more mobile; in South Korea, where about 30,000 U.S. troops are still stationed, this has encompassed a large-scale base moving project that has been met with controversy.

If the President continues to label himself as a flexible progressive while accepting the current "flexibility" of the labor market or the strategic flexibility plan for U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, it means that Korean collaborators with the Japanese during the colonial period were actually ‘flexible nationalists,’ more so than the independence activists at the time, the lawmaker said. "What matters right now is not the gap in perspective between the President and the progressive camp, but between the president and the people. The president needs to listen to the voice of the people," Rep. Roh added.

 head of the Government Information Agency
head of the Government Information Agency

Meanwhile, Kim Chang-ho, head of the Government Information Agency, defended President Roh, saying, "The core of the progressive stance is flexibility. If the progressives lose flexibility, it may be difficult for them to realize [the value of their policies and beliefs]."

After a Cabinet meeting on the same day, Kim urged the progressive camp to stay away from the "idealistic left."

"While the progressive camp criticizes the Participatory Government [Roh Moo-hyun administration] for practicing neoliberalism and fueling economic polarization, why does it at the same time give so much leeway to neoliberals and the forces driving economic polarization?" Kim asked. "Within the progressive camp, some idealistic leftists have failed to come up with any alternative to increased economic polarization."

In addition, Kim accused leftists of a lack of self-innovation, urging the progressive camp to depart from "idealistic leftist theories" in order to become both "flexible and progressive" in their outlook.

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