The Ambiguous Kim Young-sam Legacy

Kim Young-sam (1927-2015)

I'm curious to see how Korea will remember KIM Young-sam, a man who always wanted to leave his mark on History, but could end up as a more controversial, transitional figure. Anyway, a very interesting character in Korean politics.

A democracy fighter turned political weather vane, an enemy of PARK Chung-hee and CHUN Doo-hwan turned nemesis of KIM Dae-jung, a bold reformer of the financial sector turned victim of the IMF crisis, KIM Young-sam almost seems to have both reached and left Cheong Wa Dae like a thief. 

By running against DJ, YS helped ROH Tae-woo make history: return to democracy, establishing relationships with Russia and China... An historic meeting with KIM Il-sung would have secured his own legacy, but the North Korean leader died on him.

Like Saemangeum, his dream project (see "Ari, Arirang, Ari, Ariul City"), KIM Young-sam's legacy is a gigantic oddity still in the making, and like himself, a consuming ambition still looking for a purpose, a place in History.

Now let's see how PARK Geun-hye presents this predecessor of hers, particularly his 'democracy fighter' side. The opposition will also have a tough job, but somehow KIM Young-sam is a mirror exposing all the beauties and flaws of this nation's complex psyche.

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CHUN Doo-hwan for the record

The other day, my dictator neighbor received a visit from prosecutors who, beyond his Yeonhui-dong house, raided several homes and companies belonging to his relatives. CHUN Doo-hwan was said to be relaxed and polite while they searched his house. For show, he did leave them a little bit more petty cash than usual for their pain (provided they can link him to the over two hundred artworks collected, including some from famous painters such as Park Soo-keun), but nothing close to the KRW 167.5 bn he still owes to the nation.

I'm surprised to learn that prosecutors were surprised to find his safe empty*:

• Arguably Korea's most hated politician (NB: no small feat, particularly across the aisle these days), CHUN had probably been tipped off thanks to his pervasive network. Judging by his impunity and the frequent visits of V.I.P.s to his place, the man still knows how to pull the strings - if not call the shots (no sick pun intended for the victims of the Gwangju Massacre).
• But you don't need to be a crime genius to know something was coming: lawmakers had just voted an extension of the search for his illegal funds in time (until 2020), and in reach (to the relatives). Even if several members of CHUN's family are now under interdiction to leave the national territory, many suspect that significant slush funds have already traveled to friendlier destinations.





Among Monday tweets: "This time, media don't come to #Yeonhuidong to shoot a drama. Prosecutors raid my neighbor dictator #ChunDoohwan" (http://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/357023321507889153) / "Reminder: #ChunDoohwan got not only a "Get out of jail free" card, but his hands deep into the Community Chest" (http://twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/357044770637492226)

Anyway, Korea needs to recover more than the money still owed by its former strongman**, and even more than the undisclosed total of additional public or private assets rumored to have been offered to his friends.

Korea must recover its credibility as a democracy where justice is not only independent, but respected. Where being a top politician or a top businessman shouldn't mean being granted an unlimited supply of "get out of jail free cards".

I'm not a supporter of death penalty, and I'm glad CHUN's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. I also understand some of the reasons why KIM Yong-sam and KIM Dae-jung pardoned him, but still, putting him out of jail sent a very wrong message to the nation and to the world, and every episode of the saga that followed confirmed the nuisance**.  Now I hope that this time, the record is set right, and that all culprits pay, including in terms of prison time.

Now I guess I've made my point: I'm not exactly a fan of this convicted criminal.

But since CHUN Doo-hwan's record must be set straight, I'd like to mention a lesser known part of his legacy. He banned private tutoring and hagwon the way dictators do (the ugly way, leveraging on coercion and squealers), but towards the end of his rule, students could reach top universities on a merit basis unseen ever since.

I don't know if this can explain a boom in successful independent entrepreneurs one decade later. I don't know the backgrounds of people like the founders of Naver, NCSoft, or Daum (LEE Hae-jin, KIM Tae-jin, or LEE Jae-woong, respectively SNU, SNU, Yonsei U), and I know that anyway, the internet boom offered a unique opportunity for non-chaebol players to emerge in brand new arenas, just one click away from endusers.

But maybe, in his own wicked way, the dictator ironically*** helped rise to the top some of the university leaders who accelerated his fall. Who knows?

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* "Prosecutors Find Empty Safe in Ex-President's House" (Chosun Daily 20130718)
** see previous raids, or last year's episode of "Neighborhood watch"
*** irony: Chung used to be basically Park Geun-hye's bodyguard, and in charge of the security of the predecessor he removed from power

Ari, Arirang, Ari, Ariul City

Seoul Village 2010 - Korea loves urban planning from scratch : obliterating a whole chunk of an old city to make room for an anonymous new town, building an orwellian international city on the sea (see Songdo ubiquitous city), or even planting a new capital in the middle of nowhere (see the Sejong City telenovela)... now combine all this with the ecotourism fad and you get "Ariul".

The latest avatar of the Saemangeum Embankment project, a local drama I've been following ever since I set foot for the first time in the peninsula in 1991*, Ariul (아리울) was presented yesterday by the Office of the Prime Minister.

By 2020, this "waterfront city" is supposed to attract flocks of eco-tourists and international business travelers to a polder to be created along the Saemangeum Seawall, a 33 km-long dyke built at the mouth of the Mangyeong River (between Gunsan and Buan, with a halfway stop in the former island of Sinsido).

That pharaonic embankment had already caused major uproars in environmental circles, and one can expect similar reactions for this KRW 21 trillion, dubaiesque project covering the equivalent of two thirds of Seoul city.

At least, it won't be a bridge to nowhere anymore.

What strikes most in the new master plan is the circular road around the city center... a body of water surrounded by thematic blocks : international business, industry, residential, ecology / environment / media (?), scientific research, renewable energy, agriculture, leisure / tourism. That last cluster will be modeled after Venice and Amsterdam, and this lovely utopia will be connected to the real world by new or improved highways, plus a new Saemangeum-Gunsan railway.

At this pace, by the end of year 2050, "eco-tourists" will be able to drive from Gwanghwa-do to Jeju-do as seamlessly as along the Florida keys...

If you wonder what a new port, complete with industries, and all this real estate frenzy have to do with "eco-tourism", welcome on board. If you wonder why this polluted spot was selected for a water tourism utopia, learn that one seventh of the budget is devoted to improve the quality of water to make the said utopia relevant. If you wonder why 20% of the land is devoted to agriculture, it's simply because city planners thought that that poorly located cluster wouldn't attract investors (this heresy shouldn't last if the program proves to be a success). And if you wonder how this zillionth "Eastern Asian Ubiquitous Well Being Green Hubopia" will position itself against its countless national rivals already under construction, go figure.

Who will pay ? The next president, the next generations of taxpayers, and the next generations of people condemned to live in an artificial environment.

To whom do we owe this brilliant mess ? Lee Myung-bak is only following the pledge of Kim Young-sam, who promised it to Jeolla-do voters during his 1992 campaign. The "bulldozer" president couln't decently pull the plug on that one just weeks after abandoning his pledge to Chungcheong-do voters, made during his own 2007 campaign : keeping Sejong City (and Roh Moo-hyun promises) alive. But Lee hasn't given up his own fabled Four river project... The day presidential candidates stop destroying their country with insane promises, Korea will probably feel better.

To me, Ariul sounds like the nth regional version of the old folk song Arirang. Only this time the subject would be that other eternal love of Koreans : real estate.

S.M.


* in Gimpo airport of course (from Paris via Tokyo because you couldn't fly to Korea over Russia). But land had already been claimed from the sea for Incheon airport : when I first visited Yongyu-do, it was already connected with Yeongjong-do, even if you had to take a ferry from Wolmido.

Kim Dae-jung - The Commander Statue

Tragic year for former Korean Presidents : today, pneumonia eventually claimed KIM Dae-jung (1998-2003) a few months after his successor ROH Moo-hyun (2003-2008) committed suicide*.

Korea's first Nobel laureate had been treated for over one month at the Severance Hospital, and when his fate seemed sealed, all former foes paid him a visit to "make peace" with a man whose disparition was bound to spark a new wave of criticisms on their own past.

Most notable stars of this strange "Sunshine Policy", 3 presidents : CHUN Doo-hwan has already been judged, KIM Young-sam still struggles to balance his own legacy, but LEE Myung-bak is about present time, history in the making.

And KIM Dae-jung was particularly vocal against him. Actually, his very last public breaths were to denounce repeated attacks on democracy, particularly following the disparition of ROH Moo-hyun (see "A Yellow Sea for Roh Moo-hyun").

At least for the weeks to come, KIM Dae-jung shall stand as an embarrassing "Commander Statue" for a Don Juan already struggling to reconquer public opinion.


* See "Roh Moo-hyun follows Pierre Beregovoy".

ADDENDUM 20090819

Kim Dae-jung family designated Kim Young-sam as head of the organization for the tribute to the deceased. Now that's Sunshine Policy !!!