- Political reshuffling looms large as GNP sweeps 11 districts and NMDP takes 2

As a result of the by-elections on August 8, the Grand National Party (GNP) took the victory in 11 of the 13 constituencies - 7 districts within Seoul and its environs including Jongno, Yeongdeungpo B and Geumcheon, Jin A and Haeundae in Busan, Masan-Habpo in Gyeongnam, and Bukjeju in Jeju-do - whereas the New Millennium Democratic Party (NMDP) stopped at winning in only two constituencies in the Honam region - Buk A in Gwangju and Gunsan in Jeonbuk.

With the presidential elections only four months away, the by-election was practically a preliminary to the presidential elections, receiving so much limelight that it was dubbed the mini general elections. Having faced a crushing defeat, the NMDP is expected to initiate sweeping changes in preparation for the presidential election. In Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi-do, where the candidates' campaigns drew considerable attention for their resemblance to a battle of the sexes, the woman candidate Jeon Jae Hee (GNP) won the seat with 56.4% of the votes. However, candidate Kim Seon Mi (NMDP) from Anseong, Gyeonggi-do, had to go down in defeat despite having garnered 20 thousand votes in a district with a particularly low turnout.

As a result of this by-election, with a record low turnout of 29.7% for re-elections and by-elections since 1965, the GNP has now secured 139 National Assembly seats, crossing the majority mark of 137. For the first time since the birth of the Republic, a single opposition party has taken the majority, and this is expected to greatly influence state affairs from now on.

The GNP, which already has a landslide victory in the June 13 local elections under its belt, has now taken over the steering wheel of the National Assembly, providing itself a powerful launching pad for managing the run up to the presidential elections to its advantage. Now that it can dominate the National Assembly, the GNP is expected to go about initiating what it has been demanding all along - National Assembly inspections of corruption scandals, the special prosecution system, televised public hearings, inspection of public funds, and so on. Not only that, the GNP will have more room for maneuver in mitigating public censure regarding its presidential candidate Lee Hwe Chang's alleged cover-up of his sons' draft-dodging scandals.

Meanwhile, legislator-elect Jeon Jae Hee, the only successful woman candidate in the by-elections, said that she was happy that she had been elected through a revolutionary clean election that the citizens of Gwangmyeong had been calling for. Her comments as a successful candidate were, "This by-election has restored the pride and honor of Gwangmyeong, once tainted with corruption during the 1998 elections. I will do my best to create politics that wins the approval of the citizens."

<reported by Shin Min-Kyung minks02@womennews.co.kr>

During the discussion, participants said that although the result of the vote was disappointing, the public hearing of the Prime Minister appointee did have a positive effect, in that it proved how stringent the public has become in demanding moral uprightness from high-ranking government officials.

The Korea Women's Associations United (KWAU) held the discussion to evaluate the public hearing at 2 p.m. on August 7 in the small meeting room in Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. Most of the participants agreed that "despite the historic significance of the first-ever woman Prime Minister since the birth of the Republic, the rejection of Chang Sang is a reflection of the public opinion that strict standards be applied in assessing the moral character of high-ranking officials, whether they are male or female."

The KWAU pointed out that "nevertheless, the result of the National Assembly vote is also a reflection of the traditional attitude of Korean society towards women." KWAU's position on this issue is that "In order to clear any suspicion that Chang Sang's capabilities came under fire because of her gender, all future candidates for high-ranking government posts, not to mention presidential candidates and legislators, should be examined using the same standards that were applied to Chang Sang."

In order for future public hearings of government official appointees to judge appointees' capabilities and morality based on accurate facts and to establish a proper model for civil servants, the KWAU recommended that ▲principles and concrete standards for reviewing government official appointments should be formulated and applied right up to the presidential candidate, ▲more time should be prepare for and conduct the public hearings, and more professional staff recruited to ensure full inspection, and ▲public hearings should become a mandatory checkpoint for all important public posts central to state power such as the Public Prosecutor General, Director of the National Police Agency, Director of the National Tax Agency, and all Ministers of administrative branches. The KWAU also called for more concrete and active plans for women's political participation, such as allocating 30% quota for women in the policy-making and political processes in order to establish gender equality in politics, a prerequisite to complete democracy.

The voting that followed the public hearing on Prime Minister appointee Chang Sang was participated by 244 out of the 259 registered members of the National Assembly (125 from GNP, 105 from NMDP, 9 from ULD, and 5 from none negotiation groups), and the result was 100 in favor of the appointment, 142 against, 1 abstention and 1 invalid vote.

<reported by Shin Min-Kyung minks02@womennews.co.kr>

▶ During the public hearing on her appointment as Prime Minister conducted on July 29 and 30, Chang Sang, despite expectations that she would hold on to her appointment without difficulty, was unable to gain the approval of the National Assembly in the face of overwhelming public opinion that doubted her moral character. <Photograph by Yoo Young-min>

Vice-director of the Korea Party Politics Research Institute Son Hyuk Jae, who gave a presentation at the discussion to evaluate the public hearing on Chang Sang, said that "the biggest reason behind the vote against Chang's appointment, which in turn undermined the historic significance of the first-ever woman Prime Minister in Korea, was none other than Chang's own lack of morality and trustworthiness." However, Son also pointed out that "what had outraged and upset ordinary citizens was not just the actions of Chang as an individual but the fact that underhanded efforts to gain American citizenship for family members, draft dodging, real estate speculation and accompanying falsification of residential records, and the huge size of houses and bank accounts are so common among the so-called leading elite of our society."

Ji Eun Hee of the KWAU Guidance Committee drew a frank and vivid picture of her feelings when she had been filled with expectations of Korea's first woman Prime Minister. Recalls Ji, "Chang's appointment was a revolutionary event with great significance in that it proved that a woman could become Prime Minister in a country where women's political participation is far from flourishing." Although the new Prime Minister would have been in office for only 7 months, Ji had welcomed Chang's appointment because interest in women's issues would have basically increased during her term, Chang had been best suited for the post compared to other women, and although neither a reformist nor a progressive herself, Chang had proven that she maintained an open attitude towards reform and progress.
Ji thinks that "in light of precedents, Chang's appointment would have been approved if Chang were a male politician with the usual political connections, even if the public hearing had been conducted no differently." Whether this is just an imagined concern or the truth will be proven in the process of voting for the next Prime Minister appointee.

Cho Hyun Ok, representative of the Democratic Alliance for Women's Political Empowerment, said, "There are those who point to the rising moral standards that citizens and legislators apply to public officials or the weakening control over state affairs by a lame duck president as the reasons behind the rejection of Chang, but what is tormenting women is the nagging suspicion that the actual reason might have been the silent cartel that has been created behind the superficial reason of moral degradation."
Cho also said, "Although we should continue to increase women's participation in politics, we should have moral guidelines that take precedence over gender. We should not support someone simply because she's a woman but with a view to enhancing women's participation for social and democratic advancement."

Professor Chung Dae Hwa (Political Science, Sangji University), who began his presentation with the hope that the public hearing would not spread into a battle of the sexes, expressed his disappointment by saying, "A public hearing to decide on the appointment of a Prime Minister should aim to investigate whether the appointee is qualified to be a Prime Minister. A Prime Minister who has been slandered and hurt in a public hearing cannot carry out his or her duties properly. A public hearing is to verify whether the candidate is qualified, but Chang's public hearing seemed caught up only in proving that she does not."

Nevertheless, Chung recognized that few would disagree that public hearings were an effective tool for checking the president's monopoly on rights to appoint government officials. He went on to say that "if the politicians made such a fuss over a Prime Minister, then at least an 'abstract framework' has been established to judge both elected and appointed civil servants in the future, which is clearly an important step forward achieved by the public hearing."

Other opinions presented at the discussion included the need to improve the media's role. Professor Lee Hyo Seong (Mass Communications, Sungkyunkwan University) pointed out that "media reports on Chang stopped at repeating whatever information had been provided to the press without going through the process of verifying the facts, while legislators questioning Chang kept repeating the questions posed by the media reports." Lee went on to recommend that the media be charged with verifying the facts before making reports, so that the media and the legislators and the media are allocated different roles and the reports can be used during the public hearing after going through simple verification procedures.
Participants at the discussion agreed that women and civic groups should not only monitor future public hearings to ensure that the same criteria applied to Chang is applied to all government official appointees but also formulate a fair assessment system encompassing the appointee's nationality, military service, tax payment, academic achievements and method of increasing property, and apply the system to the scrutiny of presidential candidates, high-ranking officials and legislators.

<reported by Shin Min-Kyung minks02@womennews.co.kr>

- National Reunification Rally on August 15 Liberation Day

▶ The women's gathering session during the 2001 National Reunification Festival held on last year's Liberation Day in Pyongyang. <photograph courtesy of Tongil News >

When the delegation from the Preparatory Committee for the 2002 Joint Reunification Event arrived at Sokcho Port at 6:30 p.m. on August 7 after three days of working-level negotiations on Mt, Kumkang to announce the finalized schedule of events that both parties had agreed to, the reconciliatory mood between the two Koreas started to improve at remarkable speed.

The two parties have already agreed on holding the seventh inter-Korean ministerial-level talks, having the North Korean delegation participate in the Busan Asian Games, holding the Joint Reunification Rally in commemoration of Liberation Day in Seoul, and supporting the football match to be held on September 8. So if all these events are carried out on schedule, inter-Korean exchanges, which had stalled after the recent naval clash along the NLL in the West Sea, will return to full swing.

Furthermore, at the civilian level, the two Koreas have agreed to hold joint reunification rallies for youths and students and women on Mt. Kumkang in September. Thus, expectations are high that facilitating civic exchanges in various areas will have a positive influence on inter-Korean relations.
According to the finalized schedule announced by the working group, the August 15 National Reunification Rally will be held on August 15 and 16 in Seoul, and will comprise of the opening ceremony, a joint artistic performance, a seminar and so on.

As soon as the North Korean delegation arrives on August 14 through a direct sea route, the visitors will be taken to the Sheraton Walker Hill, where a welcoming performance and dinner awaits. On August 15, the opening ceremony of the rally will be held in the Fencing Stadium at Seoul Olympic Park at 9:30 a.m., followed by a rally to strengthen unity and a joint artistic performance.

On the same day, a joint arts and photography exhibition in commemoration of the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration will be held in the Culture Hall of the Government Procurement Agency. The exhibition will be showing off about a dozen national treasures including North Korean landscape paintings.

From 8:30 a.m. on August 16, sectional reunions will take place. According to the agreements between the two parties, there will be nine sections where groups from one country will be meeting their counterparts in the other. These groups are the workers, farmers, youths, students, women, artists, journalists and religious groups, and the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation (KCRC).

At 10:30 a.m., there will be a seminar on the theme "our people's challenge of protecting territorial rights over Dokdo and seeking justice regarding past misdeeds by Japan." After a sightseeing tour of Seoul including the Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeok Palace and Namsan Tower, the North Korean visitors will attend a farewell dinner at 8 p.m. in the Mugunghwa Hall at Sheraton Walker Hill, and take a chartered flight from Gimpo Airport to return home on August 17.

The North Korean delegation, headed by President of the KCRC Kim Young Dae, is expected to be about 100 strong. The delegation will be composed mainly of artists including famous North Korean folk singer Seok Ryun Hee.

Having finalized the schedule for the reunification events, the preparatory committee is planning to hold the second conference of representatives in the function room of Sejong Hall on August 9, during which they will review their plans for the rally. This conference will be followed by a talk to listen to the opinions of the various elders of society.

Women groups will also get busy, starting with a review of preparation plans by the Reunification Alliance*, religious groups and the women members of the KCRC at 1 p.m. on August 9. This will be followed by a meeting with representatives of the KWAU and the Korea National Council for Women to come up with detailed programs for the rally.

As of August 7, it is not known exactly how many people from women groups will be included in the North Korean delegation. The list of participants from the North will arrive only after the South Korean party sends the requisite invitations, probably before August 10.
The women groups in Korea expect that the biggest topic during the sectional gathering by women would be the fate of the inter-Korean women's reunification rally, which participants at the 2001 National Reunification Festival last year had agreed to hold. Since the women from both sides had already agreed to hold the event on Mt. Kumkang in September and to follow up on the agreement with working-level meetings, the reunion gathering in Seoul is expected to take on the form of a working-level meeting to prepare for the September rally.
*Reunification Alliance: Reunification Alliance for the Realization of the June 15 Inter-Korean Joint Declaration and Peace on the Korean Peninsula

<reported by Park Chung Hee-kyung chkyung@womennews.co.kr>

- International Conference to be held on August 16∼18

◀At a catholic mass organized by the "Citizens' Committee for Countermeasures Against the Murder of Junior Schoolgirls by US Forces Armored Vehicle" on August 7 to demand that the US forces give up jurisdiction over the case, a dancer performs a ritual to comfort the souls of the two junior school students crushed to death by a US Army armored vehicle <photograph by Min Won-ki >

An International Conference will be held for three days from August 16 in Seoul and Anseong to look at the problems caused by militarism and the stationing of US troops in regions outside the US.

This is the fourth such international conference organized by the 'Women's Network against Militarism,' and will be participated by women activists from countries where the US Army has stationed its troops, such as Korea, Japan, Okinawa, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Hawaii. Participants will be sharing their experiences under the theme "Peace Comes from My Life - Militarism and Women's Rights."

At the open conference that will be held at the learning station of the National Human Rights Committee on August 16, keynote presentations will be given on themes such as 'Globalization and Militarism,' and 'Globalization and the International Trafficking of Women,' followed by case studies from each region on the women's peace movement against militarization. On August 17 and 18, there will be closed conferences in Anseong to discuss various issues including the lives of sex workers serving US army camps, children born between locals and American soldiers, US army base camps and the environment, treaties between the US and host countries, retrocession of base camp land and economic development for residents.
The 'Women's Network against Militarism' was established ten years ago by feminists who had come to regard the issue of security as a women's issue. In Korea, Durehbang, Hansori Society for the Eradication of Prostitution, National Campaign for Eradication of Crimes by US Troops in Korea, Women's Society for Peace, Alliance for Peace and Human Rights, Korea Association of Church Women and An Il Sun are part of the Network. 02) 2275-4860

<reported by Lee Jung-joo jena21@womennews.co.kr>

(The Women's News http://www.womennews.co.kr)  

Articles condensed by Lee- In-hwa, translated by Cho Eung-joo.

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