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Former president Kim Dae-jung has triggered controversy with an explicit intervention in politics by expressing concerns that conservatives could win the presidential election. In a meeting with progressive cultural figures like novelist Hwang Suk-young and Baek Nak-cheong, professor emeritus of Seoul National University, Kim even issued a warning of war if the Right comes to power. He said conservatives were calling the last 10 years "a lost decade." ˇ°And whether the voters can elect an administration that would turn the clock back to the previous 50 years [since the Korean War] will determine Korean people's future and destiny ...If this went wrong it could invite war.ˇ±The Right in campaigning has been referring to the years of the Kim and Roh Noo-hyun administrations as a ˇ°lost decadeˇ±, but Kim insisted they were a ˇ°proud 10 years.ˇ±
The former president has called on broader ruling forces to join hands and field a single presidential candidate. But this is the first time he has so unequivocally thrown his weight behind their campaign, using ˇ°weˇ± to refer to progressives. ˇ°Now conservative forces are gaining strength. But polls by news agencies show that some 70-80 percent of respondents support the centrist or progressive camps. Our basis is still solid,ˇ± he said. ˇ°We are discouraged and caught in defeatism. How we can win the presidential election when we are losing to ourselves?ˇ± He added, ˇ°I know I would earn respect if I remained silent on day-to-day politics, so I have tried not to intervene in politics even though I am being unduly criticized. But we are afraid of nothing if we are united and convinced of a victory.ˇ±
Kim recently offered a detailed proposal for an alliance in the broader ruling camp in interview with pro-government online news outlet OhMyNews, where he said if a merger between the United New Democratic Party and the Democratic Party is impossible, the broader ruling camp should focus on helping a progressive figure win the presidential election by joining hands with Moon Kook-hyun of the Creative Korea Party. ˇ°They can pursue a party merger after the general election,ˇ± he said.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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