Self-Criticism over Political Mud Slinging

“A con artist who fooled the whole country for more than six months!”

South Koreans are lamenting the DA office announcement Wednesday that Korean-American con artist Chris Kim manipulated the presidential election. The case, casually dubbed the BBK scandal, obliterated all the major issues in the race. The lamenting comes out of their disappointment with the repetitive mud slinging during the presidential election run-up.

The vest majority of Koreans chastise the recent practice, calling for self-reform comparable with their national status in the global community.

Back in 2002, when the Kim Dae-eop scandal engulfed the whole country and the presidential race, South Korea witnessed and understood the devastating effects of negative campaigning. Five years later, however, the mud slinging drove the whole South Korea crazy again, wasting an enormous amount of national resources in the process. Now, Koreans are calling for systematic mechanisms that could prevent the same thing from happening down the road.

Politics professor Kim Hyeong-jun at Myongji University explained, “South Koreans now can tell which campaigns are negative and which are not. Still, politicians stick to the old reminiscence. They seem to have believed they could use the BBK scandal as another form of the Kim Dae-eop scandal and tipped the balance through negative campaigning alone.”

Further, no one is being punished for mud slinging. The key players in the Kim Dae-eop scandal and the Kiyang Construction scandal only got a slap on the wrist. They were indicted, but Roh pardoned them once he took office. All these circumstances led to bolder actions, like the BBK scandal.

In the United States, if a candidate wages a negative campaign, and the allegations later turns out to be false, authorities or the affected parties can hold the candidate or the newspaper that has first published the allegation legally responsible, preventing any similar attempts.

Political commentators and scholars suggest that congressional immunity of representatives should not be granted in a presidential election year, and each party should choose its candidate earlier than now. Then, they believe the selection of the president will be based on candidates’ policies and visions.

Law professor Jang Yeong-su at Korea University proposes, “We voters should demonstrate to the politicians who are fondling the idea of negative strategies that mud slinging will get them nowhere. Then, they will not think about it any more. In a nutshell, everything depends on the voters.”

ddr@donga.com leon@donga.com