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Millennium Democratic Party candidate Chough Soon-hyung shocked observers when he won Wednesday¡¯s by-election in Seoul¡¯s Seongbuk-eul constituency, beating his Uri Party rival. The Chosun Ilbo accompanied Chough on his way to work on Thursday morning, the first time he returned there after he played a leading role in President Roh Moo-hyun¡¯s impeachment. In the general elections for the 17th National Assembly, he was defeated for his audacity. Chough could not deny that his heart was full on Thursday.
Asked how he feels about being Korea¡¯s most-elected lawmaker, he answers, ¡°Actually, I¡¯m not a man for politics. Politicians have to be good at promoting themselves, making connections with influential figures and drinking. But I¡¯m not good at any of them. It¡¯s ironic I¡¯ve become the lawmaker serving the most terms in parliamentary history.¡± Recently, the veteran lawmaker read ¡°Profiles in Courage¡± written by John F. Kennedy during a break. It¡¯s about eight senators who suffered a political downfall for abiding by their principles. ¡°I¡¯ve had similar feelings and felt I understood them.¡±
Asked about how he felt about the political situation after the presidential impeachment, he said, ¡°For last two year, it was very painful for me to think about my fellow lawmakers who lost their impeachment. I tried to forget, but I couldn't.¡± He credits his wife for her support when public criticism against the presidential impeachment was running high.
Asked if he thinks the reasons for the impeachment are still valid now, he says yes, ¡°more than ever now.¡±
Among the president¡¯s biggest mistakes, according to Chough, is the selection of his aides. ¡°I asked him not to select people close to him as presidential secretaries and aides when I met him just after he was chosen MDP presidential candidate. I told him public officials should fill the positions since Cheong Wa Dae is a state organization. But he was deaf to the advice. I think that was the starting point of the president¡¯s trouble administering state affairs,¡± he says.
He says he has no special plans for a reorganization of the political sector. But the seat distribution in the Assembly, he says, shows what the public wants from parliamentarians, and it is wrong for them to split up and unite at will in a bid to win the next presidential election though he showed little regret about the Uri Party¡¯s own split from the MDP after Roh¡¯s election. Asked about former prime minister Goh Kun¡¯s bid for the presidency, Chough says, ¡°I met him at official functions and I don¡¯t know him well. But I have no objection to his role as a key player in a possible redrawing of the political map if he wins public support.¡±
Chough confides he wants to serve on the parliamentary judiciary committee to prevent further ¡°bad laws like the private school law and press laws¡± being passed without checks.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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