GOYANG, South Korea, Key politicians of the rival parties on Saturday called for “unity and tolerance” to bring harmony into society deeply divided over “extreme politics,” as they gathered at a rare event marking the centennial of the birth of a late former president.
The participants made the calls during the ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of former President Kim Dae-jung, who led the country from 1998-2003, as social division over political polarization is emerging as a hot-button issue ahead of the April’s general elections.
Such calls from the politicians also came days after the stabbing attack by a frustrated citizen on the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) leader, Lee Jae-myung. Lee was absent from the event due to post-surgery treatment.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo delivers a speech during the centenary of the birth of late former President Kim Dae-jung at the KINTEX exhibition center in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul, on Jan. 6, 2024. (Yonhap)
“Politics, at present, is
mired in confrontation, antagonism and division,” National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, a co-chair for the event, said in the congratulatory speech at the KINTEX exhibition center in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul.
“What former President Kim would want from us will certainly be national unity,” Kim said.
Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, also a co-chair, pointed out that politics has in part instigated the distrust and hatred, stressing that “national unity and solidarity” are the only way to overcome the crises.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said that as President Yoon Suk Yeol respects and remembers Kim’s legacy, his government will strive to “open an era of trust and integration.”
Han Dong-hoon (2nd from L), chair of the emergency committee of the ruling People Power Party, sings the national anthem during the centenary of the birth of late former President Kim Dae-jung at the KINTEX exhibition center in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul, on Jan. 6, 2024. (Yonhap)
Rising political star Han Dong
-hoon, the justice minister-turned-interim leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), said South Korea experienced harmony and empathy under Kim’s leadership at the height of the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.
“The PPP and I, with that heart, will do better than now, in the Honam as well as Yeongnam regions,” Han said. Honam refers to the Jeolla region in the country’s southwest, the traditional stronghold for the liberal bloc, while Yeongnam covers the southeastern Gyeongsang provincial areas, the main stronghold for the conservatives.
Lee, in a speech read on his behalf by Rep. Ko Min-jung of the DP, emphasized democracy “achieved through fighting.”
“Democracy, the livelihoods of people and peace on the Korean Peninsula, (to all of which) former President Kim had devoted himself, belonged to those who fought (for) and protected (it),” Lee said.
“Let’s protect democracy, the people’s livelihoods and peace at risk. We can do it when we become one,” he said.
Former President Moon Jae-in, Yo
on’s predecessor, also attended Saturday’s event with his wife and former first lady, Kim Jung-sook.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
