<Korea Herald> May 18, 2012

Park GH is only remaining card: ex-Saenuri reformer
 
A key architect of Saenuri¡¯s revamp calls on ruling party not to be bound by conservatism

As former Saenuri chairwoman Park Geun-hye sat in the front row at the party¡¯s May 15 national convention, a man with an impish grin casually sat behind her, a seat many other party members will have coveted.

He looked around the spacious exhibition hall filled with political big-wigs and party delegates, looking half-excited and half-amused at the imposing atmosphere of the event.

It was Chung-Ang University¡¯s law professor Lee Sang-don, who has come to epitomize the Saenuri Party¡¯s revamp that narrowly saved the party from being defeated by the opposition forces in the April 11 general elections.

He played the ¡°bad cop¡± in the notorious nomination process that dropped older members from the race, acting as the ambassador for Park on issues that otherwise would have been tricky for her to address directly.

With inexorable logic and square-shooting demeanor, Lee is said to have earned the trust of the presidential hopeful known for her pickiness.

¡°For me it is more about how we have run out of cards other than Park Geun-hye if we were to see the country become a wholesome state, rather than about who is most likely win (the presidential election),¡± Lee told The Korea Herald.

Now, as exhilaration from the general elections cools down and the emergency committee effectively closed, Lee has returned to teach at his school ¡ª for now.

¡°Wouldn¡¯t I be doing pretty much what I have been doing?¡± Lee said to a question what he plans to do in the future campaign for Park in the lead up to the Dec. 19 presidential election.

¡°What I¡¯ve been doing was to throw whatever pending issues out there and see the feedback, upon which chairwoman Park could make decisions,¡± Lee said, adding that the party¡¯s honest and upfront attitude also earned the support of the media.

Lee¡¯s participation in the Saenuri camp last December had raised many eyebrows among then-mainstreamers loyal to President Lee Myung-bak, as he was seen as an atypical conservative environmental law professor openly critical of the incumbent administration.

The professor¡¯s long-standing opposition toward President Lee¡¯s pet project to restore four major rivers may not have had any political motivation, but his passionate yet conservative liberalism definitely worked in the favor of Park in her attempt to distance herself from the unpopular government.

Lee explained that he came to join Park in her expedition to save the then-Grand National Party because they shared the same outlook: to move the right-wing Saenuri further to the center without losing the traditional support base.

¡°If we were to have seen the situation through the same eyeglasses as the opposition forces as the race being conservative versus progressive, we would have been completely ruined,¡± Lee said, emphasizing that Park never once made an overly conservative or progressive stance during the general elections campaign and instead underscored the importance of people¡¯s livelihoods.

Indeed, he was candid about what cost the progressive opposition forces in the parliamentary elections despite the advantage they had over the lame duck ruling camp.

¡°In my opinion, the opposition forces united for the sole purpose of judging the Lee Myung-bak administration for the year 2012, and they missed out on what the people really wanted by obsessing too much about it,¡± the professor said.

¡°Ordinary people make considerably sensible judgments. What has been happening was that the established political circles have been imposing idiotic principles on the people. The people are smart. They may make some bad decisions at times but they are smart,¡± Lee said.

This does not mean that the Saenuri Party has the next presidency in the bag, Lee said. He was equally bold about the shortfalls of his party suffering from low popularity among younger and urban voters.

¡°There was the painful lesson that we learned from the general elections. The votes in the metropolitan region turned out to be the votes by the social class. Unless we give ourselves scathing self-reflection, (the next race) will be difficult.¡±

Lee pointed out that the main opposition Democratic United Party would be able to challenge more strongly if they succeed in unifying under a single candidate, such as political heavyweight Sohn Hak-kyu or South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Doo-kwan, who also recently urged a break from ideological warfare to create a decentralization of power.

¡°We are in quite a difficult situation. There are just so many (potential) figures in the opposition forces. (Saenuri) may have a larger number (of lawmakers), but we have little firepower,¡± Lee said, referring to the ruling party¡¯s dependence on Park as the only one with star power.

Remaining down-to-earth throughout the interview ¡ª much in contrast to his daring and sharp-tongued comments ¡ª Lee did not forget to add his vigion for the future of the Saenuri Party.

The Saenuri Party, which has been riding on the slogan to better public economy, must continue to differentiate itself from the progressive parties by improving welfare and economic democratization without losing growth, Lee insisted.

¡°The Saenuri Party does have its base with Korea¡¯s conservatives fundamentally. However, it must not be bound to it. It must go beyond that, similar to the approach that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair made for the Labour Party,¡± Lee said. Blair remained unswayed by the demands of the labor unions and eventually became the Labour Party¡¯s longest-serving prime minister, he explained.

Born in a distinguished family (his maternal grandfather is the late Ko Hui-dong, Korea¡¯s first Western-style painter), Lee was raised in Jongno, Seoul. He graduated with a bachelor¡¯s and master¡¯s from Seoul National University, School of Law, but had little interest in becoming a judge or lawyer. Instead, he went over to the United States in the 1980s and studied environmental law and received his doctorate from Tulane University.

He has written more than 100 academic papers since he became a professor, more than half of which are dedicated to environmental law. It was during that time that he served as a member of the committee on central rivers management during the Roh Moon-hyun administration that he became invested in the problems associated with the four rivers¡¯ renovation project.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldm.com)
(±â»ç¿Í »çÁø¿¡ ´ëÇÑ ÀúÀÛ±ÇÀº ÄÚ¸®¾ÆÇì¶öµå¿¡ ÀÖ½À´Ï´Ù.)