Misery Loves Company

The GNP seems to have a fairly definite position on Roh Moo-Hyun’s invitation to form a coalition government.

It might be difficult, however, to find a compromise point over the presidential suggestion, as GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye had dismissed the idea, saying, “[Discussion of a coalition government] is over. There is no reason for further negotiations as the GNP has already clarified its position.

Any questions?

I’d like a Korean perspective on this. I suspect that to Americans in particular, this idea is simply laughable. Is there any political appeal to this for Koreans? It simply seems a transparent effort to dull the oncoming pain of incumbency.

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Meanwhile, Uri’s misery deepens. It has lost another seat to election law violations, which puts it at 145 of 299. Any regular OFK reader knows I’m an Uri non-fan, but I am troubled by the idea that the judiciary has the power to unseat a member of the National Assembly by calibrating the amount of the fine it imposes. I’m a big believer in an independent judiciary; this is a powerful temptation to politicize it.