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Skorea vote maverick { December 20 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-korea20dec20.storyhttp://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-korea20dec20.story
S. Korea Votes to Keep Sun Shining on North
President-elect Roh Moo Hyun supports dialogue with regime in Pyongyang, unlike U.S.
By Barbara Demick
Times Staff Writer
December 20 2002
SEOUL -- Propelled by the post-Cold War generation, South Koreans on Thursday elected as their next president a maverick lawyer who wants to remain engaged with North Korea — and who is likely to declare a measure of independence from the United States.
Roh Moo Hyun, who at 56 is young by the standards of Korean politics and a relative newcomer to the political scene, beat conservative opposition leader Lee Hoi Chang by 48.9% to 46.6%. He'll succeed his political idol, President Kim Dae Jung, on Feb. 25.
Roh's victory could augur a strained relationship between the United States and South Korea, traditionally one of America's most steadfast allies. Amid a wave of anti-American protests across the country, the president-elect has made cautiously critical comments throughout the campaign about the Bush administration's position on not only North Korea but also Iraq and Afghanistan.
In his first speech as president-elect, Roh said this morning that he would work closely with the U.S. to "resolve peacefully the problem related to North Korea's nuclear development," while hinting that there could be adjustments in the historic alliance. He also said he would seek changes in the Status of Forces agreement on the 37,000 U.S. troops in the country.
"The traditional friendship and alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States must mature and advance in the 21st century," Roh said in a speech at the National Assembly.
Although Roh led the polls in the weeks preceding the election, his victory was seen as an upset. Just hours before the voting booths opened, his most important backer, World Cup organizer Chung Mong Jun, abruptly yanked his support over a perceived anti-American remark by Roh.
Voter turnout of about 70% was the lowest in South Korea's history, a phenomenon attributed to confusion over Chung's last-minute move.
Exit polls showed that voters in their 20s preferred Roh by a margin of nearly 2 to 1, while those in their 60s chose the 67-year-old Lee by the same margin.
"There is a new generation that wants to get out of the old, Cold War style of politics," said Yum Dong Yeon, a strategist for the Roh campaign who was watching the election results with satisfaction Thursday night at campaign headquarters in Seoul.
The election results were a vindication for President Kim and his Nobel Prize-winning "sunshine policy" of engagement with North Korea, which has been under attack by hawks.
Lee, who narrowly lost the 1997 election to Kim, has spent much of the last five years accusing his rival of appeasing North Korea. This morning, he apologized to supporters for the loss and announced that he is retiring from the leadership of the opposition Grand National Party and from politics.
Despite North Korea's declared intention to unfreeze its nuclear program, Roh promises not to suspend financial aid or economic exchange programs, instead using gentle persuasion to get the North to renounce its nuclear ambitions. That position puts Roh starkly in opposition to the Bush administration's demand that there be no "business as usual" with North Korea until it complies.
Roh, who has barely traveled outside South Korea, has never been to the U.S. The White House is expected to invite him for a visit before he is sworn in.
President Bush released a statement of congratulations to Roh on Thursday and was expected to call him today to extend his personal regards. A spokesman insisted that Bush had not called Thursday purely for timing reasons that in no way reflected any lack of enthusiasm for Roh.
"The people of South Korea have once again demonstrated the enduring vitality and dynamism of democracy in their country," White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said. "South Korea is a close friend and ally of the United States, and the president looks forward to working closely with President-elect Roh as the United States and the Republic of Korea address the many challenges and opportunities that we face together."
Scott Snyder, Seoul representative of the Asia Foundation, said he believes that Roh will eventually be able to make an accommodation with the Bush administration over North Korea, much as President Kim has done.
"There is an overall structural environment which dictates a need to maintain a relationship with the United States," Snyder said. "Roh campaigned to the center, and he will end up having to govern to the center as well."
Yoo Jay Kun, an assemblyman and Roh advisor, said that Roh's so-called political radicalism has been exaggerated.
"Roh is not anti-American," Yoo said. "He wants to maintain good relations with America.... He wants to work with America as an equal partner for the common good."
The presidential campaign has been shadowed by rapidly unraveling relations between the United States and North Korea and a burst of anti-American protests in South Korea. Young South Koreans with few memories of the Cold War and only history-book knowledge of the 1950-53 Korean War increasingly question the role of the U.S. troops stationed in the country — and, whether deliberately or not, the Roh campaign managed to ride the wave of these strong feelings.
"Bush regards Korea as a U.S. colony, and he wants to do things his own way. That's why he is being so hard on North Korea," said Kim Hyong Jin, 26, an office worker who was watching election results on a large-screen television in downtown Seoul. "I agree with Roh Moo Hyun, that you have to keep talking to North Korea."
Besides North Korea, many voters said, they were swayed by Roh's promises to reform the political system to reduce cronyism and bring in fresh faces. Although Roh ran on the ticket of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party, he created an image for himself as an outsider. And he managed to depict Lee, a former prime minister, as a representative of politics as usual.
"Roh Moo Hyun is seen as an engine of change. He is seen like Bill Clinton back in 1992, younger and more independent than the rest of them," said Hahm Sung Deuk, a political scientist at Korea University.
A self-educated lawyer, Roh grew up near the port city of Pusan. Almost entirely unknown outside South Korea, he gained some prominence in the 1980s representing radical students and workers in the struggles against the military dictatorship that ruled South Korea at the time. He later joined the opposition camp as an assemblyman.
Roh burst upon the national political scene so quickly this year that the phenomenon was dubbed by the press as the roh poong, or "Roh tempest." He beat a better-known rival in party primaries to become the ruling party presidential candidate. After initially leading Lee in the polls by more than 20%, Roh's candidacy flagged over the summer and the party nearly forced him out of the race on the grounds that he wasn't electable.
At that time Chung, a Hyundai conglomerate heir riding a wave of popularity from the World Cup soccer tournament, jumped into the political arena. When it became clear that Chung and Roh would merely split the liberal vote and give the election to Lee, they struck a deal: Chung dropped out and agreed to campaign for Roh.
The circumstances behind Chung's stunning announcement Wednesday night — less than eight hours before the polls opened — remained something of a mystery.
Chung attributed his decision to a remark Roh made at a rally saying that "we must have a dialogue with the North and with the United States ... [to] make sure that the North Korean-U.S. dispute does not escalate into a war."
The comment, Chung said through a spokeswoman, was offensive because it suggested that the United States was planning to start a war. Some Roh supporters believe that Chung, in fact, was angered over comments Roh made praising other politicians as potential presidential candidates in 2007.
In any case, Chung's eleventh-hour departure so angered voters, it may have actually helped Roh.
"It seemed to me like a dirty trick, as though somebody was behind it," said Lee Myong Hoon, 29, a taxi driver who switched his vote at the last minute from a third-party labor candidate to Roh.
Times staff writer Maura Reynolds in Washington and Chi Jung Nam of The Times' Seoul Bureau contributed to this report.
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Copyright 2002 Los Angeles Times
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