As Roh Prepares to Name a New Cabinet, New Calls to Reboot Uri

After the local elections, I had blogged about the rift in the Uri Party about merging with other parties on the left.  In the wake of Uri’s beating in the last round of elections, it’s painfully obvious that the left is weak and fragmented and only stands a chance if it unites.  Note, for example, how Uri can’t win in South Jeolla province because other lef-wing parties win instead.  In that spirit, a former Justice Minister and Uri founder has called for a grand alliance of the left.  Superficially, it makes perfect sense for them, and the Chosun Ilbo thinks the proposal is “picking up steam.”

Beneath the electoral calculus, however, there are some real obstacles to this.   First, if Goh Kun really  fled Uri because of its radicalism and unpopularity,  then he  might not want to  come back.  Second, President Roh  will  oppose  the merger because of old grudges with DP members.  Third,  with the Democratic Labor Party looking more and more like a wholly-owned subsidiary of the North Korean Workers’ Party, it would be unwise in the extreme for Uri to want to join a grand alliance with them or even underline their ideological similarities.

On the other hand, I’d like to see Andy Jackson (check out his new blog) win his bet, or come reasonably close.  I’ve also believed for some time that we’d see Uri 2.0 in some form, and well in advance of the 2007 presidential campaign.   Another theory:  Goh Kun, who has been set up as the “centrist” candidate, but  who in fact  keeps some far-left company,  could play a prominent role in the new party  to give it a more  moderate image.  Yet somehow, I don’t think all those colors of ant can coexist in one basket.

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Meanwhile, President Roh is about to name his new security cabinet, following the resignation of a his Defense, Foreign, and Reunification Ministers and the NIS Chief last week (apparently for a variety of reasons).

UniFiction

President Roh is likely to choose between Kim Ha-joong, Seoul’s ambassador to Beijing, and Lee Jae-joung, senior presidential advisor on North Korea policy, as his new unification minister, they said.

The other candidate for the job is Lee Jae-joung, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on Democratic and Peaceful Unification.  From that limited information, it sounds like Kim is a more likely to be a career diplomat than a party hack.

Defense

As for the next defense chief, he said that among the candidates are Army Chief of Staff Kim Jang-soo, former Air Force Chief of Staff Bae Yang-il, and Jang Young-dal, a senior ruling Uri Party official.

Obviously, I would prefer a career officer for several reasons:  to avoid widening the distance between this administration and the armed forces, and to inject some military reality in the government when it’s making some of the most critical national security policy changes in 50 years.

Foreign Affairs and Trade

Song Min-soon, Roh’s chief security advisor, is said to be almost certain to succeed Ban as foreign minister. Some do not rule out the possibility that Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan will be promoted to assume the post, however.

Song, as we already know, is no diplomat, an America-hater, and most likely one of Roh’s Taliban.  His appointment would not be a good thing for U.S.-Korea relations for the duration of Roh’s term in office.