SOUTH KOREA : Local Vote Makes Water Purity a Grass-Roots Issue

The South Korean government and President Roh Tae Woo’s ruling Democratic Liberal Party insist that water treated by the Seoul waterworks is safe to drink. They have gone so far as to have members of the Cabinet shown on television drinking it.

But in Seoul’s Hwagok district near the airport, “Nobody drinks water directly from spigots,” one resident said. “Everybody either boils the water or uses purifiers.”

Despite this situation, no organized protest has been submitted to City Hall, if only because municipal officials--like all local government officials in South Korea--have been appointed by the central government. And at the national level, problems like water quality received scant attention in the drive for economic growth.

But now water has become a political issue in Hwagok district, and that says something about changing patterns in South Korean government.

For the first time in 30 years, Seoul citizens are getting a chance to elect a representative to a city assembly to be established in Thursday’s election. Across the country, voters will choose 866 representatives in new legislatures for all nine provinces and assemblies for six large cities, including Seoul.

All three of the leading candidates in Hwagok district--including the ruling party’s nominee--have promised voters that, if elected, they will restore pure water for residents.

Since a military government took power in a coup and abolished all local government assemblies, “the right to petition came to be treated as if it were a conspiracy to overthrow the government,” said Prof. Cho Chang Hyun, director of the Center for Local Autonomy at Seoul’s Hangyang University. Now, at last, “a legitimate outlet for people to register protest” will be added to South Korea’s boisterous and often brawling politics.

In more immediate terms, Thursday’s elections are expected to let Roh pronounce an end to the political unrest that has ensnared his government since April 26, when police beat a student to death. The ruling party is likely to win half the seats, with two opposition groups dividing most of the rest.

In the March first round of local autonomy elections for ward and county assemblies, ruling party members won 74% of the seats.

Inflation, skyrocketing housing costs, scandals that have discredited both the ruling and opposition parties, and continuing disequilibrium in otherwise spectacular economic growth have created such disillusionment with politics that recent polls have shown that no party has as much as 20% of the voters’ support, Cho noted.

Personal connections, not national policies, are expected to dominate the election, said Park Kee Jung, political editor of the newspaper Dong-A Ilbo.

The outcome, however divorced from national politics, will affect the ambitions of both Kim Young Sam, who lost to Roh in a four-way race in 1987 but joined Roh’s ruling party a year ago, and Kim Dae Jung, a two-time loser in presidential races. Both hope to run in next year’s election to pick a successor to Roh, who is limited by the constitution to a single five-year term.

Kim Young Sam, executive chairman of the ruling party, is directing its campaign and will need a strong showing to silence opposition to him from party factions and win Roh’s anointment as the party’s next flag bearer, Cho and Park agreed.

Opposition stalwart Kim Dae Jung is expected to run for president again, whatever the result for his New Democratic Party. But a solid showing by a new group, the Democratic Party, would once again split the opposition as its goes into the election.

In the long run, revival of local autonomy could change the nature of South Korean politicians.

Many of them, Cho said, will be forced to go through the training ground of local assemblies, where they will have to acquire a “political temperament” of tolerance and patience that has too often been lacking in confrontations between the government and opposition parties.

Who Standsto Gain--or Lose

South Korea’s upcoming local elections could have national repercussions. Here are three political power brokers who stand to gain or lose by their outcome: President Roh Tae Woo

If the ruling Democratic Liberal Party pulls in at least half the seats at stake, as expected, Roh can pronounce an official end to the anti-government unrest of recent months. Kim Young Sam

The ruling party’s executive chairman and campaign director could counteract intraparty opposition with a strong showing at the polls. If he is successful, Kim stands to win Roh’s endorsement as the next party leader. Kim Dae Jung

The leader of the New Democratic Party hopes to consolidate opposition votes behind his leadership. But a new opposition party could dilute Kim’s political strength and hurt his chances in next year’s presidential elections.