Roh's Victory to Bring Fresh Changes to South Korea

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, December 20, 2002

Roh's Victory to Bring Fresh Changes to South Korea

Roh Moo-hyun, candidate of the pro-government Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), defeated all his rivals in the presidential election. Roh's triumph in the presidential election marked a new era in South Korea's political history.

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Roh Moo-hyun Becomes New President of S.Korea

Roh Moo-hyun's triumph in Thursday's presidential election marked a new era in South Korea's political history.

Roh Moo-hyun of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) defeated his powerful rival, Grand National Party's (GNP) candidate Lee Hoi-chang, by 48.9 percent to 46.6 percent in the 16th presidential election.

Thus, the MDP will once again become the ruling party after President Kim Dae-jung quitted the party he founded in 2001 due tothe failure in that year's National Assembly by-elections.

Roh Moo-hyun will assume his new duties in February 2003 from Kim Dae-jung's hand, and the new younger president will inject vigor to the country, analysts said.

The close racing election was deemed as an important one, sinceit marked an end to decades of political domination by the so-called "three Kims," i.e. former president Kim Young-sam, outgoing President Kim Dae-jung and ex-prime minister Kim Jong-pil.

Moreover, the result will affect the orientation of the country's future politics, economy and the inter-Korean relations.

National Alliance 21's leader Chung Mong-joon's abrupt withdrawal of support for Roh Moo-hyun late Wednesday night might have created positive affect on the ballots for Roh, observers commented.

The last-minute withdrawal of support served as a wake-up call to younger voters, who were originally estimated to post lower turnout than the elders, they said. According to previous opinion polls conducted by local media, Roh held high supporting rate for his human rights image and grass root backgrounds among younger generation, while the elders over 50 favored Lee Hoi-chang.

The youth want fresh landscape in all aspects of the country, and worried that the GNP will be another corruption party since itwas reborn from ex-president Kim Young-sam's putrefactive New Korea Party (NKP)

It is widely considered that Roh, coming from a poor peasant family, will push more "progressive" policies than other candidates would do.

The biggest change the South Korean people may envisage is Roh's latest claim that he plans to shift Seoul's administrative function to Daejeon, South Chungcheong Province.

According to Roh's design, Seoul will remain as the hub of the country's economy, but the presidential office, central government and National Assembly with a population of 5 million will move to Daejeon by 2010.

The relocation of the administrative capital aroused controversy in the society. Some economists evaluated the plan highly, as the population of Seoul and its vicinity now accounts for 48 percent of the total population of the country, and the heavy burden has created severe economic, traffic, housing and environmental problems.

However, others described the plan as unrealistic, predicting Seoul's economy will collapse and be driven into chaos.

Just like in the 1997 presidential election, which was held amid severe financial crisis, South Korean people are very much concerned what economic reform policies the future government will take.

During the campaign, Roh pledged to carry out broad ranging policies to bring about a balanced growth of 7 percent for the country. And he strongly advocated limiting chaebol (plutocrat)'s influence on the national economy by strict restrictions.

Such position has won support from civic groups and labor unions. Employees as well as medium-sized companies welcomed Roh'swinning, for he said he would introduce more policies in their favor.

Roh had said the more possible quick change after his election would be reforming his party to eradicate deep-rooted regionalism and pursue national integrity. He said he may also create a new political organization to reflect the opinions of the people and party members.

Analysts interpreted these remarks of his as an intention to keep a distance from President Kim Dae-jung, and leverage Kim's influence in the party.

However, Kim's "Sunshine Policy" and the engagement and reconciliation policy toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are believed to be preserved despite the continuing tension over Pyongyang's nuclear weapon program.

Roh has repeatedly underscored that such issue can only be addressed through dialogue, and he will stick to the present government's ongoing policy on the DPRK.

After the DPRK confessed to a senior visiting US official in late October that it has a nuclear weapon plan, it declared earlier this month it will soon re-activate the nuclear facilities frozen by an Agreed Framework between the United State and the DPRK in 1994.

Last week, the DPRK also requested the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to remove the seals and monitoring cameras from all of its nuclear facilities.

Pyongyang claimed that it has to do these since the Korean Peninsula Energy Organization (KEDO), an international consortium led by the United States, decided to suspend heavy oil shipment to the country, which led to a severe shortage of electricity.

In contrast to such a discord, the inter-Korean relations developed smoothly. The two sides have agreed to re-link the cross-border railways and roads as scheduled.

Roh often said it is proper to talk to the DPRK, thus pushing the inter-Korean ties progress forward and prevent a war.

The revision of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that governs legal status of 37,000 US forces stationed in South Korea is also a focus of people's concern.

Recently, the demand of SOFA's revision has soared after two young girls were killed by US army's armored vehicle in Gyeonggi Province in June.

Roh's claim on Wednesday that US Forces Korea (USFK)'s Yongsan base in central Seoul should be relocated has illustrated his attitude toward this issue.

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