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DP clumsy in handling NLL dispute
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Former Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong, second from left, and other panel members speak at a press conference dubbed “Truth about the Oct. 4 Inter-Korean Summit” in the National Assembly, Monday. The Democratic Party arranged the meeting amid controversy surrounding late President Roh Moo-hyun’s alleged denial of the validity of the Northern Limit Line. On the right is Park Sun-won, who was Roh’s secretary for unification, foreign affairs and security; and second from right is Baek Jong-chun, Roh’s senior security secretary. On the left is DP lawmaker Hong Ihk-pyo, host of the meeting. / Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
How well has the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) been strategically coping with disputes involving late President Roh Moo-hyun’s remarks on the Northern Limit Line (NLL)?
DP members went all out to criticize the National Intelligence Service’s (NIS) disclosure of transcripts of the 2007 inter-Korean summit, claiming it was an “unlawful act.” But they were not effective in debunking suspicions that Roh denied the validity of the de-facto sea border line, analysts said Monday.
“The DP misjudged the situation and made a tactical error while coping with the revelation of the minutes of the dialogue between Roh and late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as they just focused on procedural matters,” said Political analyst Lee Kang-yun.
Lee said the DP claimed that the transcripts are presidential records that should not have been opened without procedures stipulated by law.
“This way of response only led the public to cast more doubts on whether Roh really disavowed the border line or not. If the DP was assured that Roh did not intend to offer to give up the NLL, they should have focused more on the contents of the transcripts,” said Lee.
“It is true that there is no direct expression of renunciation in the full text. The DP could have used this and launched a counterattack against the ruling Saenuri Party that Roh just tried to secure peace on the Korean peninsula and it was the ruling party that distorted the contents.”
He added the procedural matters could have been raised later as, rightly or wrongly, the transcripts were already opened anyway.
Bae Jong-chan, director of the department of social research at Research & Research, echoed Lee’s view.
“When conservative ideas and progressivism clash, the former tends to always win in this divided country where people have a fear about the North’s provocation and a possible war. As the disclosed two late leaders’ dialogue showed Roh’s characteristics as a liberal president, the DP should have tried to emphasize justification and sincerity of Roh’s comments,” he said.
In the meantime, the ruling and opposition parties continued the battle over the NLL, Monday.
In the meeting of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee, lawmakers of the ruling and opposition party clashed over allegations that Roh gave up the NLL and that some ruling party heavyweights had access to the summit transcripts before last year’s presidential election in connivance with the NIS.
Following Rep. Moon Jae-in’s Sunday’s calls on parties to agree on reading the original transcripts of the summit kept in the National Archives of Korea (NAK) as presidential records, the DP submitted a written request to gain an access permit to the presidential material to the Assembly, Monday.
Moon, former DP presidential candidate, who served as presidential chief of staff to late President Roh, said this is the only way to resolve the NLL controversy.
The DP earlier argued that the transcript disclosed by the NIS late June was a duplicate of the original version. So, the original documents and recorded tapes in the NAK should be disclosed as well so as to establish the truth, because of the possibility that the spy agency manipulated the copy of the records.
Under law, presidential records are classified for 15 years and can only be opened to the public upon approval by more than two-thirds of lawmakers or a high court warrant.
As the ruling party also showed signs of agreeing to read the original one together, analysts say there is greater possibility that the DP’s request will be passed at the Assembly.