Retirement Results in End of 3-Kim Era


By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter

Rep. Kim Jong-pil, chairman of the United Liberal Democrats (ULD), on Monday declared that he will step down from the party’s leadership and quit politics, following its poor performance in Thursday’s general elections.

``I will retire from the chairmanship and leave the political sphere today,’’ Kim said. ``The nation’s choice (in the elections) should be accepted without condition.’’

The departure of Kim, better known by the initials JP, brings down the curtain on the ``three-Kims era,’’ a period of South Korean politics he dominated along with former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam.

The nine-term lawmaker’s retirement was expected as he had already promised to take full responsibility for his party’s election disappointment, in which its number of Assembly seats was cut from 10 to just four.

``I, as a loser, have nothing to say,’’ Kim said. ``All is due to my lack of virtue.’’

To fill up position, Kim ordered Lee Bong-hak, the party’s secretary-general, to arrange a national convention to elect a new chairperson within this month.

Speaking to party officials at the ULD headquarters in Mapo, Seoul, the 78-year-old called on them to pull together.

``Old solders never die, they just fade away,’’ he answered when asked to talk about his long political career. ``My 43 years in politics were in some sense sinful.’’

Kim entered politics by joining late dictator Park Chung-hee’s successful coup in May 16, 1961, and has remained on the political forefront thanks to his ability to adapt to any given situation.

Despite a turbulent career, Kim maintained his seat in the Chungchong provinces, his home area, becoming one of the three longest standing lawmakers in South Korean history.

But his party lost much of its backing in the area in last week’s elections as it won only four out of 24 seats allotted.

Voters in the region gave the pro-government Uri Party 19 Assembly seats, turning their back on the ULD.

Kim also failed to seek his historic 10th term as a lawmaker under the proportional representation system because his party failed to reach the threshold of 3 percent of the vote.

yoonwonsup@koreatimes.co.kr