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By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Campus killer Cho Seung-hui sent a multimedia manifesto to a U.S. media before he shot at least 30 students of Virginia Tech last Monday, which shocked the international society again. Another ``manifesto'' in Youido, political arena in Seoul, however, is trying to send shock waves in a good way.
It is an election manifesto campaign, which requires candidates for elections to present feasible public pledges only.
Last Thursday, about 300 people including politicians and civic groups members gathered in Youido and vowed that they will make an effort for the ``fair'' presidential election slated for Dec. 19 with feasible and specific pledges.
They issued a statement demanding that candidates for elections should present public pledges prudentially and honestly while voters should be informed of detailed pledges, their effects, expected costs and predictable results, officials of the Korea Manifesto Center who hosted the gathering said.
They claimed that vague slogans, provoking ideological disputes and regionalism should vanish.
Former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook and Rep. Bae Ki-sun of the pro-government Uri Party participated in the event.
So far, about 12 million people from various fields joined the manifesto campaign, officials of the organization said.
``Manifesto,'' a compound Latin word of ``manus'' for a hand and ``federe'' to strike, means a written public statement of the beliefs or aims, especially of a political party, a Cambridge dictionary says.
Its history dates back to 1834 in England.
Sir Robert Peel, an English statesman of the conservative Tory Party, outlined his support for the Reform Bill in an address in Tamworth, Staffordshire, which underscored his adoption of a more enlightened Conservatism.
The transcribed speech called ``Tamworth Manifesto'' was read throughout the nation and is regarded as the first document of a political party to outline its principle to voters.
In Korea, the history of manifest is not that long.
The moves started in earnest before May 31 local elections took place in 2005, Yu Mun-jong, a secretary-general of the Korea Manifesto Center told The Korea Times.
``Ahead of the elections, candidates were promising pledges that they didn't even intend to keep,'' he said. ``So, co-founders of the center and civic groups leaders were worried about election campaign culture in Korea and desperate for researches on policies for sustainable development.''
As a result, they established the center on Feb. 1 last year and a total of 325 small and big civic organizations are with them.
Asked the ultimate purpose of the organization, Yu answered ``mature democracy.''
``It is true that Korea's elections have yet to be clean and empty promises are rampant,'' he said. ``I hope our manifesto movement helps mature democracy take root in the nation.''
The center also aims at overcoming a trend of mutual distrust in politics, he said.
``As we try to fulfill promises, I believe we can build confidence-based society,'' he added.
Tomorrow is a balloting day to choose three National Assembly members, six local chiefs and 37 local councilors.
However, candidates for the by-elections are still attempting voters with empty or vague promises during campaigning, according to the Kyeongin Ilbo newspaper.
Candidates to run in Hwasong, Kyonggi Province, who even joined the manifesto movement presented an obscure pledge such as constructing a luxurious city in harmony with rural communities.
Ko Hee-sun standing on the ticket of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) pledges that he will conclude security issues in Hwasong area but he did not feature specific ways, the newspaper said.
Park Bong-hyun running with the Uri Party's ticket promised to solve the noise problem in Suwon airfield but discussions over this issue are still at a standstill even at the National Assembly.
Those prevalent empty promises spring up because candidates are trying to just show off themselves for a short period of time and extemporize pledges just before elections, political analysts said.
``It is the reality that the manifesto is just at the initial stage,'' Yu Mun-jong said. ``So, it is necessary to have educational programs to teach candidates abilities to make policies.''
Moves for manifesto are just feeble but they are spreading in a range of fields including marriage.
On April 15, Lee Byung-gill and Seol Da-young had a wedding ceremony.
At a glance, the wedding seemed similar to other ceremonies but there was a different scene _ four promises from the bride and groom.
During the marriage vows, the groom promised that he will separate garbage collections every Wednesday and help chores every Saturday.
The bride, on the other hand, vowed that she will write a housekeeping book to prevent wasting money and give parents sympathy calls at least twice a month.
``This wedding is the basic step to make up family and society. Through this wedding, I hope people to realize how important it is to keep promises,'' said Kim Young-rae, a professor of Ajou University in Suwon who officiated at the wedding.