S. Korea Leader Reverses Self, OKs Review of Laws

SEOUL —  In stunning concessions, President Kim Young Sam agreed Tuesday to reopen the National Assembly to rewrite his party’s reviled revisions of labor and national security laws, and he suspended arrest warrants for leaders of the resulting protest strikes that have cost the South Korean economy more than $3 billion.

Kim’s concessions, made after he reversed himself and agreed to meet with the opposition, were expected to temporarily defuse the worst political crisis of his term and win back the critical support of the middle class. But they appeared not to have ended the labor discontent that has sent tens of thousands of protesting workers into the streets.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which initiated the wildcat work stoppages that have wreaked havoc on businesses, said it sent 150,000 strikers into the streets today in the first of planned weekly strikes; hundreds of thousands more demonstrators are expected for a protest rally this weekend. The government reported 68,000 strikers, however.

The “talks today have not solved any of the basic problems,” which can only be resolved with a repeal of the controversial measures and the dismissal of the pending arrest warrants, Kwon Young Gil, head of the militant confederation, said of the talks between Kim and his two opposition rivals.

Kwon, whose arrest warrant was one of several suspended by Kim, spoke from his sanctuary at Myongdong Cathedral in downtown Seoul. There, several stalwart unionists, singing protest songs in the bitter night cold, pronounced themselves disappointed by Kim and vowed to keep up the pressure until the entire labor law is repealed.

By agreeing to reopen debate, however, Kim initially disarmed his most powerful political critic and has moved to regain support among the important middle class. Archrival Kim Dae Jung, for example, hailed Tuesday’s presidential meeting as making “important progress” and pronounced himself surprised by Kim’s apparent willingness to compromise even on the law that restored power to the country’s dreaded national security agents.

The revisions to the national security and labor laws were rammed through in a semi-secret parliamentary session last month and ignited public outrage, international censure and the widespread worker walkouts.

Some analysts criticized the president’s handling of the crisis, saying Kim had committed a massive political blunder that will destroy his legacy as South Korea’s first civilian democratically elected president in three decades and consign him to lame-duck status until presidential elections in December.

“President Kim’s actions showed once again that he is a gambler and a risk-taker, and his public support may rise,” said Han Sang Jin, a Seoul National University professor, commenting on the latest developments. “However, it will not be possible for him to control state affairs as he once did.”

For now, Kim has essentially thrown the entire mess back to legislators to solve. In an extraordinary parliamentary session expected to open early next month, legislators must mediate the vociferous demands and competing needs of worried business owners confronting the brutal forces of global competition and panicky workers concerned about job security.

The revisions passed last month allowed easier use of layoffs, flextime and temporary workers but postponed the right to form multiple unions in one firm for three to five years. Kim indicated that he is willing to consider immediate authorization of multiple unions, but opposition leaders say they will also seek stricter restrictions on layoffs and overtime hours.

Another contentious issue is whether the revisions are legal since they were passed without notifying the opposition. On Tuesday, Kim repeated his view that the measures were properly passed, but several legal scholars have disagreed, and two lower courts have refused to issue rulings against striking workers.

The matter is pending before the Constitutional Court. And the opposition parties said today that they would not cooperate in the National Assembly until the laws are repealed.

Regardless of the outcome, analysts hailed Tuesday’s political developments as a triumph for South Korea’s still-youthful democracy.

The nation’s authoritarian governments had routinely railroaded laws through and, to quell public protests, raised the “red scare,” asserting, for example, that North Korea had infiltrated the worker movements. Kim’s administration tried both tactics--but failed to get away with them.

Instead, both sides competed in the court of public opinion. As Kim and his ruling party sought to soften their image in meetings with religious and civic leaders, workers deliberately distanced themselves from violent images of past strikes.

“This was a big step forward for Korea’s democratization, in that both the government and labor courted public opinion,” said Han, the professor. “Once the people’s power has been demonstrated, it cannot be stopped.”

As for how Kim’s concessions played with the middle class, Jhee Byung Wook, a conservative Seoul hotelier who had been a bellwether of sorts in his harsh criticism of the president, observed that the latest actions of the South Korean leader had tentatively restored his faith.

“I am prepared to forgive him for his past mistakes, as long as he corrects them,” Jhee said of the president. But he added that if Kim’s gestures turn out to be merely political ploys, the middle class will unleash an even greater fury against him and his ruling New Korea Party.