CINA

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The incoming S.K. president Lee Myung-bak said last week he will be glad to meet Kim Jong-il, but with preconditions that might make another summit with Kim all but impossible. Because he said also that the next summit has to take place in Seoul... Considering that Kim Jong-il ignored repeated pleas by Kim Dae-jung for a return summit in Seoul, Lee's insistence on a Seoul summit in effect rules out another inter-Korean summit, at least as long as he's president. Well, indeed good prospects for the "new chapter" in the South-North relations, promised by Lee and his gang!! And to make the whole shit worse, the incoming S.K. administration is talking almost daily - for example - about the necessity for a strengthened armament of the S.K. army to fight against the enemy in the north..

For more about the "new era of peace and development" on the Korean Peninsula please read following article, published in Asia Times (HK, 16.1):

Sundown for Seoul's Korean policy?

The imminent takeover of the South Korean government by conservative leadership has resurrected heated debate between neo-conservative and moderates here over whether the decade-long Sunshine policy of reconciliation with North Korea can survive.

 
A corollary question is whether President George W Bush is as anxious now as he was last year in a show of North Korean compliance with its agreement to give up its nuclear weapons - or has he lost interest in North Korea as a chance to burnish a legacy already tarnished in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Much of the debate focuses on the extent to which South Korea's conservative president-elect, Lee Myung-bak, will want to build on the agreements reached in October between outgoing President Roh Moo-Hyun and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il. Conservatives see Lee's pledge of aid for North Korea only after the North has given up its nukes and his promise to raise the previously banned topic of human rights in North Korea as a clear reversal of the Sunshine policy initiated by Roh's predecessor, Kim Dae-jung.

Lee's outlook may become more clear in March, when he considers how to respond to North Korea's annual request for several hundred thousand tons of food and fertilizer. He may waffle on a decision until meeting President George W Bush to coordinate on what to do as long as North Korea balks at revealing details of its nuclear program.

US analysts predict Lee in the end will want to soften his position while pursuing economic projects with North Korea, but tensions may escalate in a time of transition and uncertainty in Korea as well as in the US. Although Korea is hardly mentioned by any candidates for the Republican or Democratic US presidential nominations, North Korea may prefer to wait until the next US president takes office a year from now before going ahead with serious talks.

Lee himself has somewhat confused matters by talking a far tougher game than either former president Kim Dae-jung or Roh, while extending what looks like his own personal olive branch of friendship.

Thus he has promised to strengthen South Korea's defenses, possibly canceling a plan to reduce the size of South Korea's armed forces, while telling South Korean defense officials that such moves "do not mean we will neglect reconciliation between South and North Korea" but "can secure peace and deter a war on the Korean Peninsula when we reinforce our defense".

And he said on Monday he, like his two reconciliation-minded predecessors, will be glad to meet Kim Jong-il, but with preconditions that might make another summit with Kim all but impossible.

For one thing, he said the next summit has to take place in Seoul, rather than Pyongyang, where Kim Jong-il hosted his summits with Kim Dae-jung in June 2000 and again with Roh in October. Considering that Kim Jong-il ignored repeated pleas by Kim Dae-jung for a return summit in Seoul, Lee's insistence on a Seoul summit in effect rules out another inter-Korean summit, at least as long as he's president.

Lee has also added another qualification that's not likely to please Pyongyang, namely that his government will have to review the agreements made between Roh and Kim at the October summit for economic and other forms of cooperation. That whole deal, he said on Monday, was "sealed in principle" but "lacking in details".

Lee's ambivalence is just about as confusing to the US nuclear envoy, Christopher Hill, as is that of the Bush administration in Washington. Hill, on a fence-mending mission to the region, said he and Lee had had "a very good discussion", but Hill wants North Korea to come through with an inventory of all its nuclear facilities, as promised in six-party talks, before Lee's inauguration on February 25.

Hill's explanation is that negotiators can then move on to the much more complicated phase of getting North Korea to dismantle all its nuclear programs, including highly enriched uranium, which the North steadfastly denies developing while disabling the Yongbyon facilities for fabricating plutonium for warheads.

Hill himself leaves plenty of room for analysts to interpret his remarks as hardline, even though he has exerted substantial influence over the past two years in getting Bush to soften his policy toward North Korea. As he put it before leaving Washington for Beijing, host of the six-party talks, "We can't have a situation where we pretend programs didn't exist," or "a process that goes forward on the basis of not being honest with each other".

Critics of the Bush administration believe Hill, though given considerable latitude in negotiations, still has to deal with opposing views in his own government. Madeleine Albright, secretary of state under Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton, told me at a recent book-signing for her newly published Memo to the President Elect, a compendium of advice for whoever succeeds Bush, that she approved of Hill's efforts to get the North Koreans to live up to their word but believed he was held back by the policies of his government.

That remark reflects the view of Bush's many critics, including Albright, that his "hardline" policy was responsible for the failure of the 1994 Geneva framework agreement and North Korea's revival of its nuclear program at Yongbyon. Critics note, however, that Albright's book overlooks the highly enriched uranium program that led to the breakdown of the Geneva agreement and remains the critical sticking point.

Albright's newly published tome, moreover, betrays doubts about the whole issue of human rights in North Korea that Lee promises to confront. "Your administration should push for progress on human rights," she advises the next US president, but "if we refuse on moral grounds to negotiate with the North Koreans on security matters, we may end up with no improvement on either security or human rights - hardly the outcome you will desire."

Stripped to bare bones, that remark provides the rationale used by Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun for ignoring the unpleasant topic of human rights in hopes of bringing North Korea to terms on weapons of mass destruction. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has adopted Albright's philosophy, persuading Bush and others to wait patiently for the North to come around.

Conservatives in both Seoul and Washington worry, however, that moderates will be taken in by the negotiating skills of Kim Jong-il and his underlings. As an example, they cite Albright's own mission to Pyongyang in October 2000 in the waning months of the Clinton administration.

Albright's biggest blunder, they say, was to consent to let Kim Jong-il escort her into May First Stadium for a mass propaganda show. On this occasion, she had to watch as a section of poster holders in the packed stands flipped the cards to portray the test-launch of a long-range Taepodong missile two years earlier.

"In our meetings, Kim and I mixed tough talk about human rights and military intentions with more reflective discussions about the reasons for our lack of mutual trust," she wrote in her memoir. "It became evident to me," she concluded, "that Kim was prepared to trade military concessions for a combination of economic help and security guarantees."

Imagine, then, Albright's disappointment when North Korea, after agreeing in early October, a year after conducting an underground nuclear test, to a timetable for disabling its nuclear complex and itemizing its entire nuclear inventory, failed to come up with the list.

"Frankly, I was surprised," she told me as she signed copies of her books. When I asked her whether she had really believed Kim Jong-il would reveal his nuclear program, she said, "Yes, I did."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/JA16Dg01.html

Related articles:

☞ S.K. to equip Aegis destroyer with long-range missiles.. (Yonhap, 20.1) 

☞ S. Korea May Join US-Led Missile Defense Network (K. Times, 20.1)

☞ Lee to spur North Korean reform with incentives (K. Herald, 18.1)

☞ Lee Wants to Meet N. Korean Leader in Seoul (K Times, 14.1)

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Today People's Media newscham, the - almost only - alternative/independent voice of the S.K. radical left, published following analysis about the current situation (although the original Korean article was published for the first time about two weeks ago)  in the Democratic Labor Party (DLP):

DLP ON THE VERGE OF SPLIT

Dark clouds are cast over the Democratic Labor Party. After the party’s crushing defeat in the presidential election, old strife has grown more intense and is now about to explode. Some members are openly speaking about split of the party, others, however, are insisting on a cooperative spirit, saying that the split will only bring about self-destructive result.

On December 29th, in a central committee meeting the party called to settle the situation, lawmaker Shim Sang-jung had emerged as a relief pitcher to save the party. But the meeting ended to confirm that it is not easy to save the situation. So-called Equality faction (considered as DLP left) demanded right of nominating in the 2008 general election, an entire authority of the party, and purging the party of pro-North Korean hardliners. National liberation front faction, a majority group within the DLP that is not free from the suspicion of pro-North Korean influences, had not the least idea to accept the demand.

The party’s wavering situation has reached its peak and many members have attributed the crushing defeat to the NL faction. So some leftist party members expected them to make a retreat. But the NL faction didn’t move at all.

It is supposed to be hard for them to shed off the acquired rights and negate their own identity. Instead the NL faction has denied the existence of pro-North Korean hardliners and retorted sharply that the Equality faction had also managed the party peremptorily when they got the majority.

DLP’s Regressive, but not Unexpected Steps

Long before the ‘split of the party’ is discussed openly, there have been lots of signs. Some members of the Equality faction have sporadically insisted that they get the whole authority of the party or secede from it. To make matters worse, increasing numbers who feel regret about the party begin to secede. For the first time since the party was created, last November saw net decrease in the number of party members, which means numbers of those who join it have been outrun by who defect.

Some of leftist group accuse the NL faction of following pro-North Korea line and despotism. They argue that the party has basically been hijacked by pro-North Korean members and failed to hold its stance as a true progressive, left-wing party in issues like North Korea’s nuclear test.

To put it concretely, when North Korean nuclear crisis cast a shadow over Korean peninsula last October, several members of the NL faction showed their naked hope that the bombs would be a strong force once unification comes. In 2005, when dispute over possession of a neighboring sea island, Dok-do, between Korea and Japan severely aggravated, the party issued official statementthat insisted development of the island and stationing troops. The statement clearly revealed the faction’s chauvinistic propertyin the name of national liberation front.

In addition to those muddles, there were many other disputes that have shed suspicion over the party’s identity. For example, the party’s chief policymaker, who are under influence of the faction, commented that homosexuality was an indicator of the capitalist corruption. Besides, the party once apologized to the Federation of Korea Trade Union (FKTU) for criticizing it for being sycophant to the government.

DLP’s former lawmaker Cho Sung-su said “The faction has had college students move in districts in which they do not live to make them delegates in order to get a majority.”

Is it really because of pro-North Korea line?

Disgruntled leftist members are bursting their angers into the party’s current regressive steps, but it is uncertain that the party will go through a split immediately.

Pundits point the fact out that pro-North Korea line and despotism as a ground for split just cannot make political sense. While the debate is emerging recently, conflict between the two factions, one focuses on unification of Korea and another on labor movement, however, has a long history that dates back to the creation of the party.

In the first place the party is based on the combine of the two factions, which cannot easily be merged into one party. The shared goal to create the party could mitigate tension between the two.

So the NL faction might contend that they cannot comply with the demand because the opposite faction must have known that the faction had taken such a political platform. This is what makes the Equality faction reluctant to insist on splitting without self-reflection.

Some Equality faction members point out that they have to reproach themselves for lack of capability to keep the NL faction under control. Besides problems related to North Korea, they should have done well in livelihood issues like irregular workers’ problem, which can be easily justified.

The Equality faction cannot blame others but themselves for an attempt to conclude a cooperation agreement on labor policy with the FKTU, which is said to inflict great mischief on labor movement, and joining hands with the Grand National Party in reform of national pension system, only to be betrayed, last spring.

So it is uncertain that the Equality faction can be free from criticism that they are directing all the censures of inability to the despotism of the NL faction.

“It’s not the proper time to spilt”

While voices of splitting get louder, some members refute the argument and insist a reform from the inside. Shim Sang-jung, who is expected to save the party, says “It’s not proper time to say splitting. We should make every effort we can before saying the extreme solution.” negating the claim of split.

For those who want to maintain the party, realistic view works as well as difficulty in justification. Even though the party is in difficult situation, it is the only leftist party that has made it to the parliament. And the Equality faction that is now far from the hegemony of the party has its own supporters, up to half of it. Moreover the faction has popular politicians like Shim Sang-jung and Noh Hoi-chan.

In this situation, it seems hard to break off the party and begin from the outset. Moreover, such ‘star’ politicians as Shim would be careful of shifting her ground.

Some pundits say split cannot be achieved without outside groups that the Equality faction can get help from and share vision with. As long as a vision of building a new party of leftists’ own doesn’t prevail throughout so-called pan-leftists, the leftist faction would not dare to start 'March of Hardship.'

Outside the party there are many leftist political groups, which are in general rarely known to the public, including political party such as the Korea Socialist Party and many political groups like the Power of Working Class. They are dispersed and work individually. They share a lot of values but are in some sense different to each other. Differences in views over building a party especially stand out.

Can the Equality Faction Go Hand in Hand with

It would be harder, pundits say, for the Equality faction to cooperate with pan-leftist groups like the Power of Working Class rather than with pro-North Korea force, but some might see another opportunities.

Choi Kwang-eun, a former spokesperson of the Korea Socialist Party, revealed his personal opinion that he wants(the Equality faction) to show a scheme of reforming the progressive political factions in a clearer form and said “the faction seems to be caught in a split itself, lacking a larger vision of reform.”

And he saw chance of so-called leftist coalition, saying “we are open to an offer of coalition, only if it has meaningful substances of reform, not just for meeting and parting.”

He commented on the subject of pan-leftist coalition, “We are not yet ready to officially discuss it immediately,” and said “a meeting is starting to discuss basic conditions of coalition January.”

He added “We are intended to meet Cho Sung-su, the head of DLP's progressive political think-tank, and Kim Hyung-tak, a former spokesperson as soon as possible.”

If the pan-leftist groups come together, the debate will enter upon a new phase.

“You may feel like in Siberia inside, but it’s much colder outside.”

Last March the President-elect Lee Myung-bak made a wit remark. “You may feel like in Siberia inside, but it’s much colder outside,” said Lee to former Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Sohn Hak-kyu, who was then trying to defect the Grand National Party.

So are the conditions to the Equality faction. A member of the faction said “Splitting the party is not an easy problem, so much as cooperating with outside groups. Even though the debate is growing hot, nothing’s yet been determined.”

Wooing Sohn to go together, the broader ruling camp welcomed the defector. It is obvious that the existence of supporters outside helped Son to decide to defect. Sohn then stated that he was going to make his own way into Siberia in the sphere of politics.

Of course, which way the Equality faction will take is basically on their hands. But the strife over split might be dependent on an external factor, progress of discussion about building a new party, as did Mr. Sohn.

Gang Fight Is Heated. For What the Fight Is?

Not only to DLP but also to many progressives, hegemony has had significant meaning. Everyone says it should be stopped, but nobody’s free from it. Politics, without sophisticated words of ornament, is a ‘gang fight.’ A fight without sword and gun. Despotism clearly shows the darker side of it.

What matters is for what the fight is. Issues the party now adheres on are somewhat like those of conservative parties. One of them is strife for party hegemony and another is political attack of following North Korean line. In words of conservatives, right of nominating and pro-North Korea. It’s up to party members at large to make judgment whether these issues can justify splitting.

It is sure that the fight should become more intensive and the subject of it reconstituted to be more radical. The debate should go on not for winning party hegemony and talking scandal of following North Korean line, which the Chosun Ilbo, a far-rightist daily paper, has acknowledged..

The party is embroiled in the biggest crisis, the public, ironically enough, however, is paying more attention than ever. The party should take the crisis as opportunity of presenting a clear identity of the progressive party to the public.

http://www.newscham.net/news/view.php?board=news_E&nid=45962

Related contributions:

☞ DLP.. #3

☞ DLP.. #2

☞ DLP.. #1

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About the latest developments in the DLP today's Korea Times is reporting following:

Progressive(*) Labor Party Seeks Image Makeup

The Democratic Labor Party (DLP) will seek to break its Pyongyang-friendly image as part of efforts to end an internal feud, the head of the party's emergency committee said Monday.

Rep. Sim Sang-jeung, who temporarily leads the party after its leaders resigned en masse to take responsibility for the party's defeat in December's presidential election, stressed that she will also try to revamp the DLP.

``I will reform obsolete factors in the party without any exception and accept criticisms from the public to renew the DLP,'' Sim told a press conference at the National Assembly. ``The party will also stand as a responsible, peace-seeking party breaking the image of being pro-North Korea.''

Sim added that the party will become a progressive one for all the people as well as workers while keeping its distance from the unions on which the party used to depend.

The left-leaning party has suffered an internal feud following its defeat in the Dec. 19 presidential election.

Its candidate Kwon Young-ghil got only three percent of the vote, even lower than his standing in the 2002 election, and also that of independent runner Lee Hoi-chang and underdog Moon Kook-hyun.

Taking responsibility for the defeat, party leaders stepped down on Dec. 29 and the party launched the emergency committee to lead the party until new leaders are picked.

However, two major factions in the party are still blaming each other for the election result.

A faction called the equalitarian group which is more concentrated on labor issues criticized the larger faction, called the independence group, for its biased political leaning cornering the party into crisis.

The mainstream group, which takes a more critical stance toward the United States and is favorable toward North Korea, on the other hand, slammed the opponents, saying its groundless claim is disrupting the party.

As the feud gets deeper, rumors have it that either of the two groups may leave the DLP.

Sim, on whom party members lay hope for party unity, said she will seek to adjust the party platform on the North Korea issue and unification as well as end the factional feud...

 
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/01/113_17269.html

* "progressive.."??? hmmm~ very doubtful!!

Related stuff:

☞ DLP.. #1

☞ DLP.. #2

☞ ‘진보신당’ 논의 수면 위로

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CAPITALISM KILLS!!

Last Monday (1.07) 40 construction workers were killed and at least 17 injured during a devastating  fire in a warehouse owned by the logistics company "Korea 2000" in Icheon, an industrial city south of Seoul (Gyeonggi-do/province).

The fire was caused, according the daily newspaper Chosun Ilbo (1.09), by the lack of security precautions. An investigator assumed that the workers were forced to work in a "in a room filled with volatile gases."

 
So it seems that - once again - workers in S.K. were sacrificed for the capitalists' efforts to minimize (necessary) expenditures, particularly for the safety of their employees/workers - just to maximize the profit.

And today - 'only'(!!) three days after the Icheon Fire Inferno - the S.K. (bourgeois) media realized and reported about the fact that at least 13 of the killed people were migrant workers, mainly from China...

Related articles:

☞ Korean Dream Dies in Blaze (Korea Herald)

☞ Warehouse Fire Highlights Plight of Foreign Workers (K. Times)

☞ Icheon Blaze Warehouse ‘Ignored Safety Rules’ (Chosun Ilbo)

☞ 이천 화재참사와 이명박식 자본만능주의 (KCTU)

☞ 이천 냉동창고 화재참사.. (민주노총/경기본부, 1.08)

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Already about one week ago KOREA.net, a web site created by the S.K. gov't,  published a report about "Internet Broadcast for Migrant Workers" (IBMK). I will re-publish it here, incl. my "comments"(^^):

Multilingual media to spur new change in Korea

Foreign workers in Korea can now speak their minds more than before. (.. if they're not hunted, arrested and deported..)

Internet Broadcast for Migrant Workers the first independent alternative medium for migrant workers in Korea (well, please don't forget MWTV!!), announced early this month that its Web site will go multilingual. Aside from Korean, the site will offer services in six other languages: English, Chinese, Thai, Russian, Vietnamese and Nepali.

“It will be foreign workers themselves (*) who will be in charge of producing their own stories,” said IBMK President Park Kyong-ju. “By providing radio and video news in their native tongues, foreigners, who are still considered a minority in Korean society, will no longer be alienated from information.”

Park first conceived the idea for the site as a form of “guerrilla media” with co-editor Chun Min-sung. Park who studied film and photography for eight years in Germany will be responsible for IBMK’s images and photos. Chun, who studied journalism in the United States will do all the writing...

The Korean site, the oldest, is dedicated to teaching locals what to do to improve the conditions of foreign workers in Korea, and urges foreigners to seek their own rights more effectively (well, the most effective way to resist the daily disrcimination, oppression and exploitation for migrant workers in S.K. is to organize in the MTU!!). As the site’s president, Park expresses criticism through mainstream media, which more often than not depict foreigners with prejudice and misunderstanding.

“First of all, it is wrong to portray foreign workers as helpless, and we don’t use the term ‘illegal,’ either,” Park said, referring to foreign workers who are required to leave the country after their visas expire. “They are merely undocumented and have fallen victim to the Industrial Trainee System, which was made for temporary stays only."

The government last year officially scrapped the old Industrial Trainee System for the new Employment Permit System. The new system has guaranteed better labor rights (haha!!!) for foreign workers in Korea, but also requires unregistered workers to return to their home countries to renew their visas (??? - better said: to stay away forever!!).

“Most workers cannot afford to go back and forth like that,” Park said. “This puts them in constant fear of being caught by authorities. Another reality of their struggle to stay is that they have a job here, meaning that Korean society – domestic businesses and factories – need them, too, making it a double burden for Korean employers. We can still make the system more efficient than that.” (..why to make the system more efficient? The aim must be: abolish the system of - you can call it: slave labour, i.e. discrimination, oppression and massive exploitation of migrant workers!!!)...

To read the full report please check out:
http://www.korea.net/news/issues/issueDetailView.asp?board_no=18728

* When you read the full article you'll find out that  the staff/editors of IBMK is/are - unfortunately - not really related to migrant workers!

Finally, I think it's important to add that IBMK has no link to MTU's web site (anymore)..

And last but not least: When your enemy is praising you - it's bad, and not good!!(^^/contrary to Mao's: "When your enemy is fighting you - it's good and not bad..")

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Few days ago (People's Media) newscham - let's say THE alternative/independent voice of the S.K. (radical) left - published following first analysis about DLP's defeat in the presidential election and its possible future:

Why did left turn their backs against KDLP?

The Korean Democratic Labor Party presidential candidate Kwon Young-gil gained three percentages of votes in the last election. It has failed to reach the goal of winning at least ten percentages, or three millions. The ratio of votes gained was similar to the previous 16th election. But if we take the low turnout into account, the current result, which is about seven hundred thousands, is shy of about three hundred thousand votes.

As the approval rate for Kwon was hovering just above 2% even in the last phase of the election, the party lately changed running strategy to secure the votes of “rabbits in the hand”, mass organizations the party is largely based on including Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Korean Peasants League, and National League for the Poor. Although he didn’t fall victim of worries about ‘dead votes’ due to Lee’s outdistancing his rivals, the result was so disappointing.

One of the co-chairpersons of campaign committee Noh Hoi-chan said the progressive camp suffered a crushing defeat because of “the lack of policy debates due largely to BBK stock scandal, flooding with too many candidates, and failure in fielding a single candidate.” There’s some truth in his words, but it still cannot thoroughly explain why the progressive camps suffered a record defeat. Was it a daydream to mobilize one millions at 'One Million People's Rally' to show people’s power?

Why Was the ‘Original Progressive’ Defeated by the ‘Mock Progressive?

In a move to make pro-irregular workers image, Kwon Young-gil running camp established ‘Center for Eliminating Non-regular Jobs’ under the campaign committee on October 14 and Kwon himself chaired it. He suddenly proposed to assign one proportional representative seat to the irregular worker and the party actually adopted his proposal. The campaign pledges he promised were the most radical among major six candidates; limiting the use of non-regular workers only to temporary works, abolition of worker dispatching and giving special-category workers the right to form unions, hold negotiations and take collective action.

Eventually he could not reach the hearts of up to 8.5 million of non-regular workers. On the contrary, he was only to be outrun by the ‘tender-hearted CEO’ Moon Kuk-hyun. Moon Kuk-hyun, the former CEO of Yuhan-Kimberly which is famous for ‘ethical management’, aggressively published novel and reformist campaign pledges like reducing working hours, four-group two-shift work system, and lifelong education, arousing so-called ‘Moon Kuk-hyun phenomenon.’ Moon, who had only been engaged in politics for 3 months, gained 5.8%, far beyond the number Kwon gained, winning supports not only from civic groups but from some leftist groups.

The disappointing result may be due to failure in differentiating him from Moon. What is more, Kwon announced a self destructive statement that Moon and he have a lot of same opinions on management and issues of non-regular workers. Last October Noh revealed his thoughts about Moon, “It’s not enough to call him (Moon) ‘an innovative cat.’” The expression showed a metaphor that compares labor class to a mouse, capitalist class a cat. The expression shows the party’s hardship how to see so-called neo-liberal leftist, which has emerged as the neo-liberalists have divided into several groups.

‘Out of Date’ Mobilization and Sectarian Conflicts

Since Kwon won party nomination, the approval rate for him had staggered. He tried to break a path through 'One Million People's Rally'. The rally was to demand abolition of the Korea-U.S. FTA, eliminating non-regular workers and making clear Samsun bribe scandal and was intended to gather the supports of people together. On November 11, the day rally was supposed to hold, number of people in the rally fell short of one millions. Approval rate was also getting around 2% points.

The scene may reveal the truth that upper-leadership-projected mobilization is out of date and doesn’t work. There were even some disputes over nationwide tour conducted by the candidate, which was proposed and determined only by Kwon himself. Some local branches he visited were not even ready so that party officials had to deal with the problems with haste. Some party members cynical commented that the candidate was conducting one-man protest.

The running camp was also consumed by sectarian conflicts that had emerged during primary elections at first. Members of National Liberation line (so-called Jaju, NL faction), which had officially supported Kwon since the primary election, fuelled conflicts wielding influence over the campaign camp. When the faction insisted to take ‘Republic of Korean Federation’ as one of the main campaign slogans, the friction reached its peak. During the friction election posters that contained ‘Republic of Korean Federation’ were abandoned, the wasted expense amounted up to two thousands won.

The conflict taxed the party’s capability to publicize pledges with exception of pledges of reunification. Lee Kwang-il, a professor of politics at Sungkonghae University, said “Debates alienated from the reality has made potent supporters of the party feel sick as well as existent backers.”

Where KDLP to go

The party is expected to be swept away by heavy political waves. Some leftist party members who have grown full-blown antipathy against NL sect during the election openly argue about ‘separation’ of the party. Extension through the coalition of the progressives could be an option and so be the creating a new party.

The party members across sects all have the same perception that existing system will not work anymore. They agree on ‘reforming the party’, which can be summed up by two things; resolving deep-seated fraction trouble that has blocked democratic decision making and embracing non-regular workers in order to break with the adherence to ‘unions of large companies and regular workers.’

There are also tasks the ‘reforming the party’ plan cannot deal with. Unless the party gets differentiation from ‘neo-liberal leftist’ Moon’s party, it cannot consolidate its status in next general election. ‘Originality in the progressive’ solely is not able to move people’s hearts. That’s the lesson learnt from the result of election.

http://www.newscham.net/news/view.php?board=news_E&nid=45734

Related articles:
☞ KDLP in Crisis

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As I wrote already some days before, one of the main losers of the S.K. presidential election was Kwon Young-ghil, DLP's candidate (according to Realmeter allone 14,3% of DLP's sympathizers/members voted for the extreme reactionary candidate Lee Hoi-chang!!).

DLP's leadership after realizing the first election results (12.19)

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updated version:

A Black Day for the S.K.

Progressive Movement!!

12.19, 6 pm, one of the first TV pictures..  

The "winner" (surprise, surprise!!^^):

Lee Myung-bak..

..THE hard-core fighter against the working class
His promise to all progressive activists:
"I'LL F*** YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!"

"The new government is expected to push policies to make the labor market more flexible and harden crackdown on illegal labor strikes. (*) Lee pledges to enhance the rule of law, aiming to curb "unlawfulness and disorder" caused by labor disputes. The measures may result in a waning of the labor movement, experts said.", Korea Herald wrote today.

S.K. Trade unions are split. Lee Yong-deuk, chairman of the reformist Federation of Korean Trade Unions said, "We congratulate President-elect Lee on his election along with all FKTU members. We concluded a cooperation agreement on labor policy and will give full cooperation and support to the president-elect if he faithfully keeps the promise he made in the agreement." Actually this remark isn't surpising after KFTU supported officially Lee's election campaign!

Oops.. DLP's leadership after realizing the first results (late evening 12.19) 

But Woo Moon-sook, a spokeswoman for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), said, "President-elect Lee should volunteer to reveal the truth about the suspicions over the transaction of the land in Dogok-dong, Seoul and the BBK investment scandal. Only when such suspicions are cleared he can win the trust of the people."
WTFH she's talking about? But perhaps it's just the first step in the direction of appeasement??!!

* Likeley the new gov't will see all labor actions as illegal, except strikes for lower wages and longer working time (^^)..

Related articles by Korean and int'l (bourgeois) media:

☞ Chaebol to Enjoy Honeymoon With Lee (Korea Times)

☞ New conservatism rises to power (Korea Herald)

☞ The true message expressed by Korean voters (Hankyoreh)

☞ The hard part starts for Seoul's new man (Asia..)

☞ Promises undermine democracy in Korea (..Times/HK)

☞ Lee Wins Presidency in S. Korea (Washington Post)

The entire and complete final official result of the Presidential Election you can check out here (Yonhap, but only in Korean).

본문

Coming Wednesday 37.67 million S. Koreans are eligible to vote in the presidential election. And the "winner" maybe is already clear: Lee Myung-bak, the candidate from the (in many parts extreme) conservative GNP. And of course the losers are also clear: all exploited and oppressed parts of the S.K. society. That's just alarming!!

But not less alarming is the fact that large parts of the exploited class take into consideration to vote for one of the conservative, respectively reactionary candidates. At first last Sunday the leadership of KFTU (the reformist Korean Federation of Trade Union) decided to support Lee Myung-bak, THE hard-core enemy of the workers' movement/labour unions (here you can read about the background). 

But yesterday I'd to learn about a much more strange development:
According to the latest poll by Realmeter only 20,7 percent of the DLP sympathizers are concidering to vote for Kwon Young-ghil (the DLP candidate), but about 43 percent are thinking about to vote for the conservative and reactionary candidates (22,7 percent for Lee Hoi-chang!!!, according to Realmeter). Incredible!! (*)

I'm sure that the majority of the DLP sympathizers took the streets in spring 2004 to defend Roh Moo-hyun against the impeachment  campaign initiated by the GNP. At that time we, activists in the migrant workers' struggle (ETU-MB/MSSC), but also many other Korean left activists had massive criticism against the point of view and activities by in particular the DLP and All Together/Da ham-kke, DLP's youth organization. Like a mantra they repeated their opinion: "Because GNP is fascist (sic!!!) we have to fight at first against their impeachment campaign, later we've to fight against the Roh gov't.."... And now??? What's "difference" comparing to 2004?

* Of course I know that such kinds of polls, especially when made by bourgeois institutions, are not necessarily reflecting the reality, but...

PS:
The DLP, as far as I know, is a creation by KCTU... So it means that, likely, the majority of the DLP members and sympathizers are also members/activists in the KCTU...(^^) 

Related article:

☞ Clouds over South Korea's president-to-be (Asia Times/HK, 12.15)

Update 12.17:

Hankyoreh wrote today: How is it that seven million irregular workers support someone who will make working conditions worse, that four million farmers prefer the candidate who will open their markets completely, that merchants in local markets are fanatic about the candidate who supports discount megastore chains, that people in small companies speak in support of the candidate who will work for the interests of the conglomerates, and that the people in the lower classes prefer the candidate who will move away from being a welfare state? What in the world is amiss that the middle and “ordinary” (seomin) classes are choosing to go down a path that will work against them?

And here comes another complete cracy thing in connection with Wednesday's election:

"In a desperate last-minute move to keep Lee from office, Chung proposed a coalition Monday with the most conservative candidate in the race, Lee Hoi-chang - who has called for a tougher stance on North Korea that runs counter to Chung's pro-engagement policy", AP reported today (harrharr, no further comment is necessary!!??)

본문

Today's S. Korean media (Yonhap etc..) reported - in connection with the coming presidential election - about a very critical (or just crazy..) development in the workers' movement, at least in the reformist part of the movement: Almost 70 percent of the KFTU (Korean Federation of Trade Unions) members will - probably - vote for one extreme conservative, respectively reactionary (Lee Myung-bak & Lee Hoi-chang) candidate of the ruling exploiter, i.e. capitalist class. (Opps.. Simply said, they must be complete "brain amputated"!!)

Labor Union Endorses Conservative Frontrunner Lee for President (K. Times)
 

Lee Myung-bak, the conservative front-runner for this month's presidential election, received a rare endorsement Sunday from one of South Korea's two umbrella labor unions that have traditionally sided with the liberals.

Lee of the main opposition Grand National Party is poised to win the Dec. 19 vote, with his approval rating having surged several percentage points to well over 40 percent after prosecutors cleared him of allegations of involvement in a major financial fraud.

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions, the less militant of South Korea's two umbrella labor organizations, said that in a recent opinion survey of its members, Lee was picked as the most favored among three major candidates. It's the first time South Korea's labor body has thrown its support behind the candidate of
the conservative party that has sided with conglomerates.

The endorsement seemed even more unusual because Lee was often accused of suppressing labor activity when he was the chief executive of Hyundai Construction and Engineering from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.

In the Dec. 1-7 survey, 41.5 percent picked Lee as their favorite over liberal Chung Dong-young of the pro-government United New Democratic Party who garnered a 31 percent approval rating. The least popular was rightwing independent Lee Hoi-chang, a former GNP chairman and the party's two-time standard-bearer. He earned a 27.5 percent approval rating, the union said in a statement.

Survey workers contacted 505,700 members of the nationwide union by telephone, and 236,600 people responded, the union said.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, South Korea's other labor umbrella organization, has yet to take an official stance on candidates. (*)

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/12/116_15189.html

* Until now KCTU - at least the leadership - is agitating for the election of Kwon Young-ghil, DLP's "Workers' President" candidate.