Kim Young Sam Announces Candidacy; Opposition Vote Split Likely in S. Korea

Kim Young Sam, head of the Reunification Democratic Party, declared today that he will run as a candidate for president, setting up a split of the opposition against authoritarian President Chun Doo Hwan’s handpicked nominee.

In a hastily called news conference, Kim said he reached his decision without consulting Kim Dae Jung, the other leading opposition figure, who told a South Korean newspaper Friday that he feels “an obligation to the people to run for president.”

With the unexpected announcement, the party president upstaged his rival, who said earlier that he would announce his decision on the opposition candidacy issue “right after” the National Assembly accepts the draft of a new constitution Monday for submission to a national referendum Oct. 27.

The 59-year-old party leader accused Kim Dae Jung, 63, who is an adviser to the opposition party, of breaking a pledge that they had made to agree between themselves on which of them would run as the opposition’s sole candidate.

Says Promise Not Kept

“But now, Kim Dae Jung is saying the people should decide. That was not our promise,” the party president said.

Kim Young Sam said he believes he is the “choice of the people” to run against Roh Tae Woo, head of the ruling Democratic Justice Party, who was nominated June 10.

“You will see that in Pusan (next Saturday),” Kim said, referring to a rally he has scheduled to launch a series of provincial tours. He predicted that as many as 2 million people will turn out to show their support for him.

In an interview with the Kyunghyang Daily News, Kim Dae Jung offered similar evidence of popular support, saying the “demand” by the crowds who turned out to cheer him during his recent trips to the provinces “was like a supreme command. How can I ignore it?”

Kim Young Sam denied that he had reached his decision hastily.

Says Voters Got Cash

Without offering evidence, the opposition party president charged that government officials had been given 10 million won ($12,500) apiece to distribute to voters in their hometowns over the Chusok (Autumn Full Moon Festival) Wednesday and Thursday. He did not mention how many government officials had allegedly distributed cash gifts, but said the “astronomical sum of money spent” was “a clear sign the government is going to stage an unfair election.”

“Under these circumstances and with the election date only two months away, I couldn’t postpone my decision any longer,” Kim said.

The ruling and opposition parties have agreed that the election will be held by Dec. 20, although a specific date has not yet been set.

Kim said he believes the opposition can “bring an end to military dictatorship and achieve democracy” by winning the election even with the opposition vote split between two candidates.

“The Korean people are wise enough today to decide what is best for achieving democracy,” he said.

He added that he will continue to seek an agreement with Kim Dae Jung on choosing a single candidate but said a meeting between the two before his rival announces his candidacy is unlikely.

Kim Young Sam said a party convention will be called Oct. 27, presumably to select him as its nominee. He declined to give any details. Kim Dae Jung is expected to oppose such a party gathering. Kim Young Sam holds the upper hand in the party and if it nominates him as its presidential candidate, Kim Dae Jung is expected to run as an independent or form a new party of his own.

Political analysts say it also is possible that one of the Kims could bow out of the election at the last moment even after campaigning.

Asked whether a fight between the two Kims against Roh and a fourth expected candidate, Kim Jong Pil, a strongman of the 1961-79 regime of the late President Park Chung Hee, does not amount to a power fight rather than a struggle for democracy, Kim Young Sam refused to reply.

Uproot ‘Military Culture’

Kim pledged to “end military dictatorship and uproot the ‘military culture’ ” that 26 years of rule by former generals has implanted in South Korean society. He also said he would “defend the rights and promote the happiness of laborers, farmers, and the urban poor,” while “ensuring stability and development of the people’s economy.”

He also promised to seek national reunification with Communist North Korea “after strengthening national security.”

“I will accomplish a democratic revolution through peaceful means,” he declared.

Estimates of support among voters vary wildly but most analysts agree that Kim Dae Jung, the opposition’s candidate in the last direct election for president, held 16 years ago, enjoys widespread backing among the young, the poor, and people from his native Cholla region in the southwest. He also is seen as a left-leaning rabble-rouser by the politically sensitive leaders of the 600,000-man armed forces.

Kim Young Sam, by contrast, is believed to be widely supported by middle-class liberals and draws strong support from the more heavily populated Kyongsang region of the southeast. Military leaders are believed to consider him an acceptable candidate.

Opposition forces, as a whole, were rated at least equal to, or slightly stronger, than the business-military-conservative backing for Roh.

Both Kims, after being purged by Chun when the former general seized power in May, 1980, pledged to remain allied in “a struggle for democracy.” But after a meeting Sept. 29 that ended with both leaders insisting that the other drop out of the race, the split between the two deepened.