Opposition Leader Wins Presidential Race in S. Korea

SEOUL — Former dissident Kim Dae Jung claimed a historic victory today in South Korea’s presidential election as voters dumped the party that has ruled them for decades for a fiery opposition leader who has promised to extricate them from the country’s worst economic crisis since the Korean War.

With voter turnout at near-record highs and voters in their 20s and 30s supporting him by huge margins, the 73-year-old Kim carried 40.3% of the vote to 38.7% for his nearest rival, former Supreme Court Justice Lee Hoi Chang. A third candidate, former provincial Gov. Rhee In Je, won 19.2%.

The success of Kim’s fourth bid for the presidency was, for the longtime pro-democracy activist, a stunning triumph over the heirs to the regime that persecuted him for decades--and once sentenced him to death.

“A new history is beginning,” Kim told cheering supporters outside his home this morning. “For the first time since the founding of the Korean Republic [in 1948], power has been transferred between the ruling and opposition parties.”

On election eve, Kim had told a rally of supporters--many too young to remember South Korea’s military dictatorships--that he had once been compared to such democracy fighters as Andrei D. Sakharov, Lech Walesa and Nelson Mandela.

“We will now put equal importance on the economy and democracy, unlike in the past, when only the economy was stressed,” Kim said this morning. “Proper economic development cannot take place without democracy,” he said, adding that corruption and collusion between government and big business helped push South Korea to the brink of bankruptcy earlier this month.

Troubles so grave that the world’s 11th-largest economy barely averted a default on its foreign debt have rattled financial markets around the world.

Kim thanked supporters for sharing past hard times with him, and he called for them to unite in overcoming the economic crisis.

“I’ll be in front of you, my people, to lead you in this difficult time, and I am prepared to sacrifice my body and soul to serve you,” he said.

But Kim assumes office with the slimmest of mandates and with the antipathy of big business and the financial markets, whose cooperation is essential to overcome the economic woes. The stock and currency markets, which had been closed on election day Thursday, fell sharply in early trading today, reflecting the support in the business community for Lee, the ruling party’s nominee.

In a bid to reassure those who see him as a social-democratic leftist who might renege on the terms of the $60-billion bailout reached with the International Monetary Fund this month, Kim promised to “faithfully adhere to the terms and conditions” of the IMF deal.

Kim will need to move quickly to unite South Koreans, whose votes neatly bisected the country between the pro-Lee east and the pro-Kim west.

To heal those regional wounds, lame-duck President Kim Young Sam, with the blessing of his old rival and now successor Kim Dae Jung, is expected to pardon former Presidents Chun Doo Hwan and Roh Tae Woo. The two are serving jail sentences for corruption, but many expect them to be released before the new year.

In the southern city of Kwangju, people celebrating Kim’s victory danced and sang in Kumnamro Street, the road on which hundreds were massacred by troops under Chun’s control in 1980.

Second-place finisher Lee not only congratulated winner Kim but sent him flowers. Both Lee and Rhee--who are likely to stay on the scene as powerful opposition leaders--promised to cooperate with Kim in dealing with the economic crisis.

Kim in return praised them for running “noble campaigns.” In contrast to Kim Young Sam, who jailed scores of corrupt politicians and businessmen in an attempt to “right the wrongs of history,” the victorious Kim signaled that the exhuming of Korea’s unpleasant past is over.

“There will be no political retribution and no discrimination based on region or class,” he vowed. But asked whether that meant he would oppose parliamentary hearings on the roots of the financial debacle, Kim said: “They have congressional hearings all the time in America. This is different from punishing people.”

This election has been hailed as the cleanest contest in South Korean history--and probably the cheapest because campaign spending limits that had been flouted in the past were generally obeyed.

“This is really a victory for Korean democracy,” said columnist Park Kwon Sang. “We have had something like free elections--free of organized rigging. But we never had fair elections. The ruling party was always in a favored position [in terms of] propaganda, money, organization and government direct or indirect endorsement.

“All these are gone in this election--not because the government intended it but because the government has become powerless in the last year or two, so the people were free to choose their own leader for the first time,” Park said.

“That means democracy is really institutionalized now,” said former dissident-turned-lawmaker Kim Keun Tae. “As of today, the era of one-party dominance is over.”

Kim Dae Jung’s victory came less than 48 hours after the death of his younger brother, 69-year-old Kim Dae Ui, of cirrhosis of the liver. The candidate, whose own age and health were made into a campaign issue by his opponents, spent election morning making funeral arrangements.

An American who saw Kim earlier this month reported that Kim looks older than President Reagan did when he took office. Kim says he is in fine health. However, he still walks with a limp from a car accident in 1971 that he claims was the first of three attempts to assassinate him. Kim also survived his kidnapping from a hotel room in Japan in 1973 by agents of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, and 16 years of prison, house arrests or exile.

“I have been fighting for democracy,” Kim said in a speech later this morning on the steps of the National Assembly. “Now I will do my utmost to make our nation a top-ranking country in the world.”

South Korea’s foreign relations are likely to be smoother under Kim Dae Jung than under Kim Young Sam, who reportedly frustrated, annoyed or offended President Clinton, Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. The United States saw Kim Young Sam as obstructing attempts to improve relations with the Communist North. Clinton “did not enjoy his conversations” with his South Korean counterpart, one former U.S. official said.

But Kim Dae Jung, who taught at Georgetown University during his political exile, speaks fluent English and has personal ties to a number of U.S. and Japanese officials.

This morning, Kim repeated his offer to resume exchanges of envoys with North Korea and his willingness to meet with Kim Jong Il. The North Korean leader was reportedly insulted by President Kim’s failure to send condolences upon the death of his father, Kim Il Sung, more than three years ago. With his dissident credentials, Kim Dae Jung will be more difficult for the North to dismiss as an “imperialist puppet,” and some hope that North Korea may agree to a dialogue.

“The Korean peninsula is the last place in the world where the Cold War is still prevailing,” said Seoul National University professor Han Sang Jin. “Improving the relationship with North Korea is one of the most promising challenges” for Kim, he said.

Dealing with South Korea’s regional divide will be another major challenge for Kim. In what now appears to have been one of the decisive factors in his victory, Kim struck an alliance with another longtime opposition leader, Kim Jong Pil. The deal between the old radical and Kim Jong Pil, nephew of former strongman Park Chung Hee and a leading conservative, raised eyebrows. Some voters were furious at Kim Dae Jung’s promise to make Kim Jong Pil his prime minister and to seek a change in Korea’s Constitution from a strong presidential system to a parliamentary system--which would give the prime minister more power--two years from now.

Kim Dae Jung carried Kim Jong Pil’s stronghold of Choongchung, southwest of Seoul, which analysts said helped secure his victory.

Officials with Kim Dae Jung’s party said Thursday night that they had no doubt that the new president will keep his promise to make Kim Jong Pil prime minister. They also said Kim Jong Pil would help choose up to half of the members of the new Cabinet, a move that could significantly dilute Kim Dae Jung’s authority.

“It would be too hasty to expect sudden changes under a Kim Dae Jung government,” Kim Jong Pil said. “We will gradually take measures for change, with top priority given to economic recovery.”

But analysts were doubtful that the new president would pursue a constitutional revision that would make him a virtual caretaker president in the midst of a crisis requiring strong leadership.

“I think Korea needs a new start in every respect,” columnist Park said. “The economy is a disaster. There is political chaos. We need to think about our position in the big-power relationships in Northeast Asia.”