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.

Seoul Village 2015
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Yeonhuigung - quintessentially Joseon

As you may know, the founder of the Joseon dynasty wanted to build his new capital city in the Yeonhui-Sinchon area. King Taejo loved the place, but his teams wanted to go further afield, to a bigger site beyond Muaksan / Asan, in the nest guarded by Bugaksan / Inwangsan. Taejo eventually gave in, but built a palace for his father where he wished he could have created his own.

The name of the future 'new town' capital city remained until now: Sinchon means 'new village'. The name of the palace also survived, but more indirectly: Yeonhuigung (연희궁-延禧宮) gave its name to the neighborhood, now known as Yeonhui-dong, and later to Yonsei University - for the 'Yon' part ('Sei' came from 'Severance' hospital).

Yeonhuigung was said to be made for future kings, and people around here often joke that the tradition perdured into the next millenium, because 4 South Korean presidents lived in the area (CHOI Kyu-hah, Chun Doo-hwan, ROH Tae-woo, KIM Dae-jung). But when they ruled, Yeonhuigung was already gone for decades.

It's interesting to note how this palace shared his fate with the Joseon Dynasty: created by its founder, blessed by King Sejong The Great (Taejo's grandson renovated it during the second year of his rule), and disgraced by King Sejo's bloodline. Sejo was the man who destroyed Sejong's heritage and the nation's momentum (see "King Danjong and Korea's Curse"), and his descendant Yeonsangun, another one of Korea's worst rulers ever,  basically turned Yeonhuigung into one of his lust spaces. The palace didn't survive the Japanese occupation.

So where would be this palace nowadays? On Yonsei campus, not far from the soccer field where I use to play, around where they built that new exit on Songsan-ro (to pave the way for a pedestrian Yonsei-ro).

Inaugurated Yonsei's new sw gate on my bike after the game (4 goals, 6 assists). Felt like king of Zlatanistan. (20131023 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/393912711299342336)
NB: to reach "Ventouxsan" (see "A bump on the road (Ventoux-san)"), follow that bike to the right

Local authorities have only recently sold the land - at a very low price - to the university, which had been using it for decades. Maybe something could be done to mark more visibly - not too eyesorely visibly, if possible - the former location of such a royal landmark.


Seoul Village 2014
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Neighborhood watch

Did you know that Yeonhui-dong area was seriously considered by Jeoson dynasty founders for their new capital (nowadays Seoul)? They eventually chose Bugaksan instead of Ansan because the place could be defended more easily, but Sinchon owes its name (new village) to that period, and King Sejong loved the place so much he built a palace for his father. Unfortunately, nothing remains of it and no one knows where Yeonhuigung was precisely erected. I guess somewhere along what is now Yeonhui-ro, not far from Yeonhuimat-gil, where a streamlet used to flow a few decades ago: according to feng shui, you had to have a 'ying' mountain behind you, and a 'yang' river below.

Anyway. It was then said that some day, kings would live here. And it turns out that two former presidents have a residence in Yeonhui-dong (Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo), and that former president Kim Dae-jung used to live just a few blocks away, in Donggyo-dong (and to shop at Saruga, then the country's first supermarket). Note that Chun and Roh share ROK army backgrounds, and that land was granted to high ranking officers in the area following the Korean War: fierce combats raged in Yeonhui-dong around Hill 104, a strategic position, and a gateway to the Capital.

These days, Roh Tae-woo is very ill and Chun Doo-hwan seldom leaves home. As is the custom for former presidents, their residences are heavily guarded, and you can tell when a big fish is visiting by the insigna of the people waiting outside. Guards have to live in the vicinity, and a whistleblower recently revealed that the crew in charge of protecting Chun used, free of charge, a building within the Seoul Art Space Yeonhui* domain (next to his residence), and that the contract would expire on April 30th.

Last year, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon received a welcomed last minute boost for his election when a scandal broke out regarding the future personal protection of President Lee Myung-bak (suspicious land acquisitions for his retirement place and security facilities). In this even bigger election year, chances are he won't renew a contract that ensures for free, in the most charming public residence for writers, the protection of a former dictator.

Seoul Village 2012
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*see "Seoul Art Space Yeonhui"

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UPDATE 20120208

As expected, Seoul Metropolitan Government won't renew the contract: "Chun's security detail to be booted off city land" (in today's Korea JoongAng Daily)

Saruga begins its metamorphosis

A major landmark in Yeonhui-dong, Saruga shopping center is a traditional source for imported goods, food and beverages, and a sure bet when you need fine fish for sushis... but as you roam countless booths packed with all kinds of goods, you often feel like in a time capsule stuck in the early nineties. And the building itself doesn't look very young.

This is about to change: by May 23rd, Saruga will have finished its renovation and judging by the scaffolding and the destruction of the annex near the parking lot, changes should be spectacular. New dwellings are also planned.

Actually, the whole area is experiencing intense renovations, with tens of houses being rebuilt or redesigned, and scores of new coffee shops or boutiques opening at every corner, turning a rather conservative neighborhood (e.g. former presidents CHUN Doo-whan and ROH Tae-woo, respectively North and South of Yeonhui Samgeori) into a more "bourgeois boheme" spot.

Let's see how Saruga adapts to its new environment, or why not, whether it decides to set the pace again.

--- UPDATE 20110610 ---

"Sahruga" no more, Saruga reopened today with a bigger and more upscale supermarket featuring bilingual signs everywhere, a mini food court, a cafe with terrace on the second floor (Angel-in-us instead of the old furniture shop), a Dunkin Donuts on the first floor, and shops with a direct access to the lateral and back street : only a small island of booths subsists, and large window panes fully integrate the building with its neighborhood (even if the second entrance on Yeonhuimat-ro disappeared).

Seoul Village 2011

Pyeongchang 2018 vs Sejong City 2010 ?

LEE Kun-hee received presidential pardon from LEE Myung-bak, officially to boost the chances of Pyeongchang in its bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics. The son of Samsung founder LEE Byung-chol, who helped turn the national champion into a global star, resigned as chairman during the investigations that led to his conviction earlier this year for embezzlement and tax evasion. Following the Olympic "tradition", LEE Kun-hee also had to put his IOC membership on hold. This pardon allows him to vote and lobby more efficiently for the Pyeongchang case.

Of course, should Pyeongchang win, many will wonder what kind of lobbying was involved. The very year he became an IOC member (1996), LEE had been convicted for bribing former presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo. He was (already!) pardoned the following year and that's one of the reasons why his 2009 sentence was considered rather kind : "only" 3-year prison + 5-year probation + KRW 110 bn.

Of course, Samsung is a top olympic sponsor and it helps : everybody remembers the 1996 Coca Cola Games in Atlanta... And everybody knows Sochi owes its olympic status to one powerful man : Vladimir Putin. But summing up Pyeongchang 2018* to the Samsung Olympics or the LEE Kun-hee Games would be unfair. The whole country has been behind the project for a very long while, and after Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014, holding the games in Asia would make sense. The winning city will be declared in July 2011 and as much as 2018 rivals Annecy and Munich, Pyeongchang must watch competition from China for 2022.

Still, Pyeongchang looks like the perfect alibi for LEE Myung-bak who badly needed one to grant a second pardon to Korea's most powerful man. If the measure caused the usual popular indignation, it didn't really come as a surprise. And it probably didn't come for free either : rumors have it Samsung may be the chaebol recently evoqued as a major investor for the second-version-of-the-yet-to-be-built Sejong City**... both LEEs would then share each other's burden.

To make it more look like part of a grand scheme for Gangwon-do, the Government announced today a new Seoul-Chuncheon railway. After the Seoul-Chuncheon Expressway inaugurated last summer, an undisputable argument in favor of Pyeongchang 2018.


Seoul Village 2009

* official website : pyeongchang2018.org

** see "Sejong City and the beauty of lameduckhood"