By Kim Jung-yoon
Rep. Lee Jae-oh, the leader of the pro-Lee Myung-bak faction in the ruling Saenuri Party who has recently declared his presidential bid, went and paid his respects at the grave of late liberal President Roh Moo-hyun in Bongha, South Gyeongsang Province, Thursday.
Lee, escorted by the chief secretary of Roh’s widow Kwon Yang-sook, paid tribute after leaving a short note, “We will bring about a world where everyone makes a decent living,” an official political slogan by Roh in the visitor’s book.
The five-term lawmaker with close ties to President Lee is the second ranking figure of the conservative party to pay respects at the grave of the late Roh, following a visit by its floor leader Hwang Woo-yea.
“I have always wished to sincerely honor him since I served as a floor leader during the Roh administration. Yet, due to the image of being second-in-command to President Lee, I was hesitant to visit. Now that I am in politics as a presidential aspirant, I felt it was time to pay respects to the late President,” Lee said.
His aide said he also paid homage to the late Presidents Park Chung-hee, Rhee Syng-man, and Kim Dae-jung by visiting their graves after announcing his presidential bid in the December election.
“This was part of a series of visits to the former Presidents,” said the aide.
Lee announced his presidential bid with pledges of political reform earlier last month. Lee’s visit to the grave of his political opponent Roh is interpreted as yet another move to appeal to the broadest political base possible.
Others say that the move comes as Lee’s position as leader of pro-Lee Myung-bak faction in the Saenuri Party is weakening due to the influence of mainstreamers loyal to Park Geun-hye.
Lee’s approval rating as a presidential candidate has also been the lowest among contenders, with a mere 0.3 percent compared to the frontrunner Park with 43.2, according to a survey by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI).
With the low approval rating, analysts predict Lee is bidding to reach out to liberal voters by eliminating his image of the “kingmaker of President Lee.”
The opposition cites the visit as efforts to reconcile with loyalists to Roh, an emerging power in the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), in a bid to win support from liberal voters. Lee had a fierce conflict with Roh’s participatory government.
Meanwhile, the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation said that there is a movement in the Saenuri Party to reevaluate Roh as well, but demanded that they should first stop the investigation into Roh’s bereaved family including his older brother Roh Gun-pyeong and his daughter Roh Jeong-yeon, over alleged bribery scandals.
Roh committed suicide on May 23, 2009 under mounting pressure from a probe into acts of bribery involving his family and aides.
The underdog presidential hopeful will compete against presidential contenders such as Park, Kim Moon-soo, Yim Tae-hee, and Chung Mong-joon in the party’s presidential primary slated for August after a series of campaign tours across the nation.
Lee is urging the adoption of an open primary that will allow non-party members to pick a presidential candidate to run on the Saenuri Party ticket.