Roh’s activity on his Web site gives rise to speculation about his intentions

Posted on : 2008-09-24 13:42 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Some believe former president is trying to reenter political sphere, while others view it as part of a new political culture
 South Gyeongsang Province
South Gyeongsang Province

Statements by former President Roh Moo-hyun have suddenly grown frequent through his “Democracy 2.0” Web site. Since opening his website on September 18 to yesterday, he has left 13 posts in both the debate forum and the open forum. That would be 4--5 posts a day, not counting the weekend. He has even posted at 3:21 a.m. There are one-line posts, too, but he is actively stating his opinion about major pending issues like neoliberalism and the financial crisis and Korea’s pension system.

In particular, Roh left a rather cutting post on September 22 concerning what he said was the Democratic Party turning into a regional party with its base in the Jeolla provinces. He made this criticism in the form of a response to a question asking if he thought it would be a good idea for the Democratic Party to reconcile with National Assembly Library head Yoo Jong-pil, who was Roh’s campaign spokesman during the 2002 presidential election, in order to boost the party’s support. Yoo was one of Roh’s close aides at the time, however, they parted ways at the beginning of Roh’s term in office.

Roh said the Democratic Party could never become the ruling party or majority party through Jeolla Province unity, and the unity of the Jeolla provinces would incite greater unity among the rival Gyeongsang provinces. He said that lawmakers from the Jeolla provinces who wanted to play living room politics and do things the easy way and Seoul politicians who became lawmakers thanks to votes from the Jeolla provinces were ruining the Democratic Party. He said his hope was for the party to concentrate on reforming the electoral district system, and that if politicians who think they can become lawmakers through regionalism were to change their thinking, he would become their comrade.

Responses within the Democratic Party to Roh’s comment were mixed. There were also many knotty responses to the effect that logically, Roh’s comment was right, but realistically speaking, things were different.

Rep. Choi Jae-sung said one of the tasks of the Democratic Party is to recover its traditional base of support. This is not a call for the party to be led with a pro-Jeolla province bias, he said, and noted that it was excessive for Roh to diagnose the party as if it thought of nothing except the Jeolla provinces.

Rep. Oh Jae-ae, however, said he agreed that the party must not simply be content with the Jeolla provinces simply because the region is the party’s base.

Roh’s activity at “Democracy 2.0” is also getting a mixed response. There are those who take the view that one must see it not as the restart of his political activity, but rather as a new political “culture.” Others, meanwhile, suspect he may be trying to create his own political force. Rep. Kang Chang-il said much of the Democratic Party’s support base had left due to disappointment with the Roh administration. He said Roh needed to be careful and take a vacation from politics because rumors that Roh was planning to return to politics or even form his own political party were circulating.

On the other hand, Rep. Baek Won-woo said Roh was trying to create a new model for elder statesmen by shedding the traditional image of the “old guy ignored in the back room.” Roh secretary Kim Gyeong-su said Roh’s posts are expressions of opinion so that the debates do not go excessively off-topic, and that it is an exaggeration to see them as a revival of political activity.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

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