한국 정치지형변화(특히 국회의석 분포도)에 대한 일본측의 시각 (아사히 신문)

[돌복숭]

Asia:Japan loses key allies in shake-up of South Korean political world

By HAYAMI ICHIKAWA and YOSHIHIRO MAKINO:The Asahi Shimbun


A league of parliamentarians that calmed diplomatic disputes suffers big election losses.

The usual bustle has disappeared from the third floor of a building near the National Assembly in Yoido, Seoul. Instead, a sense of shock still hangs over the remaining few people there.

The floor is home to the league of parliamentarians for South Korea-Japan relationship, which suffered heavy losses in the National Assembly election on April 15. The large gains by the Uri Party in the election shook up the South Korean political world.

The results could also have potentially devastating consequences for Japan.

The league has played a key role in Japan-South Korea relations. When debate became particularly cantankerous, especially concerning history issues, the league was there to smooth things out.

Before the election, 187 parliamentarians, or about two-thirds of the National Assembly, were members of the league. However, only 62 members were re-elected.

``It was a huge earthquake unheard-of since the formation of this league in 1975,'' said one staff member. ``There is a sense that all the members are leaving the political arena one after another.''

김종필의 정계은퇴로 일본정계에서 한국정계 연결끈이 사라졌다.

The biggest loss from the Japanese perspective was former Prime Minister Kim Jong Pil, leader of the United Liberal Democrats and chairman of the South Korean league of parliamentarians.
Kim's retirement from politics has left many Japanese politicians wondering who they can now turn to for help.

Kim Jong Pil was seeking his 10th term in office, but his party could not gain a seat for him through the proportional representation constituency. His successor in the parliamentarians league has yet to be named. Other top officials, including a deputy chairman, also went down to defeat in the election.

About the only executive in the league who retained his seat was the maverick politician Chung Mong Joon, whose family controls the Hyundai conglomerate.

Japanese politicians expressed their concerns in late April at a reception in Tokyo for newly appointed South Korean Ambassador Ra Jong Yil.

``It was like the Meiji Restoration,'' said former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone about the April election results.

A South Korean at the reception said of Nakasone's comment, ``I understand it to be an expression‎ of concern about the new South Korean political world.''

When Ra visited executives of Japanese political parties to pay an official courtesy call, he was bombarded with comments lamenting the defeat of Kim Jong Pil. One politician told the ambassador, ``I will not know how to deal with South Korean politicians in the future.''

The South Korean parliamentarians league holds a special place in the South Korean political world. It is the only league with paid staff and its own secretariat outside of the National Assembly. The league receives 620 million won (about 62 million yen) from the National Assembly every year for operating expenses.

The chairman was often from the ruling party. The post has been held by influential figures, including a number of former prime ministers.

``While the league will not disappear, it will become decidedly lightweight and its influence on the government will decline substantially,'' said a senior official of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

A symbol of the change in the league is the fact that no member of the league has direct knowledge of Japan's colonial domination of the Korean Peninsula. Members of that generation were educated in the Japanese language.

However, of the members of the younger generation now in the league, only three, all with experience working in the media, speak Japanese well enough to talk freely to a Japanese politician on the phone.

One such individual is Lee Nak Yon, 51, who once served as Tokyo correspondent for the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper.

Among Uri Party members who have been elected to two or more terms, none can speak Japanese.

Members of the South Korean parliamentarians league played an important role in playing down controversy that arose over history issues.
A prime example that is still talked about is the situation in March 2001.

Seoul had asked that a history textbook that was under examination be disapproved by the education ministry. The book, the South Koreans argued, was written by a group of nationalists and distorted the history of Japan's military past.

However, some LDP members rebuffed the request, saying South Korea was interfering in domestic affairs.

As the situation grew tense, Kim Jong Pil came to Japan and met with influential LDP members.
In that meeting, LDP officials said some members were critical of existing textbooks because they ``explained excessively'' about the so-called comfort women, who were forced to serve as wartime sex slaves.

They also said there were members who argued that Japan did not force Koreans to work in Japan, and that the textbooks should clearly state it.

Kim said: ``Both your side and ours know everything there is to know. Let's stop complaining about this issue.''

Kim's comment prevented the textbook issue from escalating into a major diplomatic rift between the two nations.

Whenever Japanese politicians have tried to legitimize Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, the South Korean media have used the response of the South Korean parliamentarians league as a gauge on how to report the story.

Former journalist Lee Nak Yon explained why the parliamentarians league had such influence over the media.

``Even Kim Jong Pil, who was considered a representative of the pro-Japanese element in South Korea, was strongly opposed to efforts to put a positive spin on Japan's colonial rule, and he confronted any attempts to distort history,'' Lee said.

The Japanese Diet members' league for bilateral relations with South Korea has also been led by influential politicians, including former Prime Ministers Yoshiro Mori, Takeo Fukuda and Noboru Takeshita. At its peak, the league had about 400 members from both ruling and opposition parties.

Some critics complain that these leagues are dominated by influential politicians who play behind-the-scenes roles in settling contentious issues outside of regular diplomatic channels.

However, scholars highly eval‎uate the roles played by the leagues.

``Rather than create something new, the leagues played the role of firefighter whenever problems arose,'' said Park Cheol Hee, associate professor of political science at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security in South Korea.

``In the future, contact will move from the back channels to the forefront and exchanges will become more diversified as politicians take advantage of personal contacts rather than acting within an organization.''

A former South Korean ambassador to Japan described the leagues as ``a safety net built through an exchange of opinions on outstanding issues between the two nations.''

Recent trends, however, demonstrate that a new method for exchange will have to be sought.

In late April, the Uri Party surveyed all its members who won seats. One question asked was: ``With which nation should we place the greatest emphasis?'' Of the 130 politicians polled, 63 percent said China and 26 percent said the United States.

Only three politicians said Japan.

On May 4, Upper House member Yutaka Kobayashi of the Liberal Democratic Party visited South Korea with a letter from Mori, the current chairman of the Japanese league.

Kobayashi's visit was intended to build new contacts with South Korean politicians. One politician he met was Kim Geun Tae, a key member of the Uri Party.

Kim laid out a number of points critical of developments in Japan.
``Isn't something wrong with Japanese democracy?'' he asked Kobayashi.

Kim said Japan was cooperating with the neoconservatives in the United States to isolate North Korea and that the six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons development program was not the forum to discuss the abduction issue.

Kim added that he could not understand how Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi could continue to visit Yasukuni Shrine.

An influential South Korean politician explained what was behind Kim's harsh words.
``In reaction to what has been considered an excessive leaning to the right over the past 50 years, there has been a move toward the left,'' the politician said. ``It is only natural that ideas emerge that `we should stress China rather than Japan and the United States' and `Japan is no longer on our radar.'''

There have been some moves among younger politicians on both sides of the Sea of Japan to form new ties.

In October 2001, younger members of the Grand National Party and the LDP established a study group. The group has held meetings in Tokyo and Seoul. Among the Japanese members are Upper House member Ichita Yamamoto and Lower House member Taro Kono, both known for their expertise in foreign policy.

Group members have exchanged views on the textbook issue, free trade agreements and national security in Northeast Asia.

In the April election, one of the politicians who won a first term was Lee Sung Kwon, who once worked as a policy assistant to Kono.

``We are now in an age in which each politician must develop their own ties rather than depend on the leagues,'' Kono said.

Four of Lee's acquaintances now work on the staff of four LDP Diet members, including Yamamoto. In late April, when he met with LDP Secretary-General Shinzo Abe, Yamamoto recommended that Abe visit South Korea. Yamamoto said he would introduce Abe to the next generation of South Korean leaders.

While high-ranking Foreign Ministry officials admit that exchanges among younger politicians will become more important, one said that a rapid shift in that direction could lead to resistance from older parliamentarians.

Although the exchange of products and people has spread noticeably between Japan and South Korea in recent years, the building of a new network of politicians matching the new closeness in overall ties has not proceeded at the same pace.(IHT/Asahi: July 6,2004) (07/06)