From: lee@bohr.physics.upenn.edu (changhack lee)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.korean
Subject: Re: Han-jung Kim's mention about D.J
Date: 7 Jan 93 23:51:02 GMT

First I want to say sorry for my mis-reading "DUMB"
I found something to add about my opinon so I post this "sick and tired issue"
again.

Of course I believed the polls and newspaper. Most of the newspaper reported the
leading of YS before Busan scandal. I was surprised poor results of CY not DJ,
because the media kept saying CY is getting better and better. I think it was
right. Busan Scandal affects to blow the votes to Ys from CY but a little.
My point is following. 
Within the political structure called Two-Kim, DJ has been supported by the
Ho-Nam people. He is the hope of alienated region. But the other side this strong
support cause strong feeling against him. Unfortunetely, the population of Honam
is minor in Korea. If the votes of Young-Nam is divided, it is fine for DJ. 
Let's see the other side. Young-Nam people want their leader as strong,democratic
and clean as DJ. And they bond together strongly.
The presidential election is not conflict between the region. People should
choose by the policy of each candidate. People seemed to want to change, of
course. But Yong-Nam people and majority of Korean people cannot help selecting 
YS no matter where he is standing. We know YS is not YS in 1987. He is  the
leader of ruling party, and collaborator of the military goverment. I am sure
based on his political style he has showed he
will change so many things and be definetely different from the other presidents
in Korea, who have goverened country previously. However, he is tied with these
all old-ruling group so his range of change will not be so wide.
It is same for Ho-Nam side. No matter what they want, they would support DJ.
In this situation, as the poll showed, DJ cannot lead YS. In 1988 National
Congress election DJ won YS, because Young-Nam was divided by Kyoung-Buk and
Kyoung-Nam. Then, YS,DJ,JP and Pres. TW got the votes propotional to the
population of their region.
So if the election had been choice of change, DJ should have resigned and
supported his follower who don't have any regional background.
 
>From your saying, I can imagine the following;

>It sounds like that if you were a assistant of DJ, you might say,
>"Sir, DJ, you are doomed to be defeated and you will  never win, because
>the current situation of KOREA does not allow you to win."

Yes, you are right. They should have said this way as CJ Park and his companies did
in 1987. If they have trusted the poll, what could they have done? To do
something they have to know why this results comes out like this. In my view,
still, the cause was the regionalism which was base for Two-Kim period. So, what
could they do?

>To me, you seem to think that the reason why DJ was defeated was due to the
>korean people's mind

You are absolutly right,however I want to add the mind within regionalism.
What else?

> and if the greater person run the election, korean people
>was supposed to the candidate from alwasy the ruling party, am I right?

No, if they follow the their regional leader again, Young-Nam will win again no
matter what their policy and issue is. However, if people don't regard the
political leader as a regional leader, the story become entirely different.


>I still believe that DJ could win the elction and his defeat was not
>the korean people who wanted stable gorvernment.

I entirely agree with you. But they didn't choose change, they chose their region.

>Regardless of DJ's campaign brains's endless effort to win, they got
>only 34% of the total votes, neverthless most of korean people (including me)
>were eager to see the change in their mind.

I want to remind one thing which happened during the campaign for candate of
their own parties. YS worried very much about DJ's defeat. Why? If DJ is not a
candidate of the other party, Young-Nam, especially, TK doesn't want to tie with
PK(Busan-Kyoungnam). It means possibility of the defeat of YS in the candidate
race.

So I hope you can think about the reason why DJ's has been defeated "regardless of
campaign brain's endless effort to win". Then you will be
able to talk about the politics not as a future professional analyst but as a
people who want to change. Then you will be able to think what to do for change 
and democracy of Korea and for Korean people.