kotaji 거타지

In this second post on the possibility of a progressive unity candidate in this year’s Korean presidential elections I’m going to look at the position of DLP left faction All Together [다함께]. Unlike some other radical left groups, they have recently argued in favour of a united progressive presidential candidate and the possibility of bringing left-leaning former Uri Party members in to the DLP, or even considering having them stand as a candidate.

However, in a recent leaflet (pdf) on the issue, All Together has put forward three basic prerequisites that such a unity candidate (and potential new members) must fulfill, which exclude the two most talked about possible leftward Uri Party defectors - Ch’ŏn Chŏngbae and Kim Kŭnt’ae. I’ll quote the important part of this leaflet below:

First, they must be opposed to neoliberalism. This excludes both Ch’ŏn Chŏngbae, who has argued that “we should accept the positive aspects of neoliberalism,” and Kim Kŭnt’ae, who has called the Korea-US FTA “positive” and argued only that “it should be finalised by the next government”.

In addition, both Ch’ŏn as floor leader of the Uri Party and Kim as Minister of Justice supported a reform of the labour laws that expanded the number of non-regular workers and promoted neoliberal restructuring. The Uri Party’s 386 ‘Reform Faction’ (개혁파) are exactly the same. They have supported the core neoliberal policies [of the Roh government], so their criticism of neoliberalism does not hold water.

Second, they must be opposed to war and support peace on the Korean peninsula. Just expressing support for the ‘Sunshine Policy’ - as a section of the rightwing Grand National Party do - is not enough. They must also be against US pressure on North Korea and above all they must be against the deployment of Korean troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon. DLP national assembly member No Hoech’an has also put forward opposition to the deployment of troops in Iraq as a core requirement for any potential unity candidate.

As a result Kim Kŭnt’ae and Ch’ŏn Chŏngbae are once again excluded, as they voted for the deployment of troops to Iraq in 2004. While claiming that they personally opposed the Iraq war, they indirectly supported the passing of the bill to send Korean troops to Iraq by attending the National Assembly to make up the required numbers for a quorum. The same goes for the Uri Party ‘Reform Faction’ who have praised the decision to send Korean troops to Lebanon under the guise of ‘UN Peacekeeping Forces’. Talking about peace and opposition to war while supporting Bush’s wars that have turned places all over the world into horrific battlefields amounts to shocking hypocrisy reminiscent of the Grand National Party’s slogan of ‘nuclear-free peace’ [in relation to the North Korean nuclear issue].

The only establishment politician who passes the two criteria outlined above is [independent, former Uri Party] assembly member Im Chong-in. Therefore, the third criterion is that they cannot be a part of the mainstream political forces, whether it’s the GNP, Uri Party or one of their mutations. These are the very people who have based themselves on powerful vested interests and promoted neoliberal and pro-war policies.

The real progressive camp - progressive NGOs, the Democratic Labour Party, labour and civic groups and a section of the individual [activists] - should unite together on the basis of these criteria.

By the way, Andy’s South Korean Politics blog provides a useful aggregation of all the latest news on er… South Korean politics from the websites of the main English language newspapers in Korea.