SOUTH KOREA: VETERAN DEMOCRACY CAMPAIGNER KIM DAE-JUNG LAUNCHES NEW OPPOSITION PARTY, NATIONAL CONGRESS FOR NEW POLITICS (NCNP) IN A RENEWED BID FOR THE PRESIDENCY

Record ID: 347523

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: VETERAN DEMOCRACY CAMPAIGNER KIM DAE-JUNG LAUNCHES NEW OPPOSITION PARTY, NATIONAL CONGRESS FOR NEW POLITICS (NCNP) IN A RENEWED BID FOR THE PRESIDENCY
  • Date: 5th September 1995
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (SEPTEMBER 5, 1995) 1. WV LAUNCHING CEREMONY 0.06 2. MV VETERAN DEMOCRACY COMAPIGNER KIM DAE-JUNG ARRIVING, WAVING 0.12 3. CU KIM DAE-JUNG SAYING "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, NOW WE OPEN THE INAUGURAL CEREMONY OF NATIONAL CONGRESS FOR NEW POLITICS (NCNP)" (KOREAN), KIM BANGS GAVEL 0.27 4. GV AUDIENCE AP
  • Embargoed: 20th September 1995 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
  • City:
  • Country: South Korea
  • Reuters ID: LVA9FMP09T9Y3012Y3KUP2I8VDN8
  • Story Text: South Korea's veteran democracy campaigner Kim Dae-jung, backed by more than 50 parliamentarians, launched his new opposition party on Tuesday (September 5) in a major step towards renewing a bid for the presidency.

    Kim, who retired from politics after defeat in the last presidential election in December 1992, made a political comeback last June by successfully campaigning for the opposition in local elections.

    He helped the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) sweep to victory in elections for choosing senior administrators in Seoul, winning 20 out of 25 posts at stake.

    On Tuesday, 54 lawmakers left the DP to join Kim's National Congress for New Politics (NCNP), making it the new main opposition in the 299-seat National Assembly. The DP now has only 41 members in parliament.

    "Despite my promise to the people to leave politics, I could not but form a new party to save the nation...from a big crisis," Kim told the party's launching ceremony in a Seoul stadium.

    "Our determination (to form the party) was an absolutely necessary step for a victory in the 1996 and 1997 elections," he said of parliamentary elections next April and the presidential polls in late 1997.

    Political commentators said Kim was taking the first step to a fourth bid for presidency after defeats in 1971, 1987 and 1992.

    Kim accused long-time political rival President Kim Young-sam of politically persecuting his party members.

    Choi Rak-do, a member of parliament supporting the NCNP, was arrested last Friday on charges of taking bribes from a local company in return for arranging bank loans a year ago.

    Seoul prosecution officials have said they were seeking an arrest warrant for another NCNP deputy on charges of blackmailing about a dozen local firms for more than 500,000 U.S. Dollars. The lawmaker is currently on an overseas trip.

    The prosecution said their steps were not politically motivated but part of a long-running drive to stamp out corruption.

    Kim Dae-jung said he wanted a meeting with the president, saying there were many domestic political issues to be discussed.

    The two Kims met last month when the president invited Kim Dae-jung to a luncheon of 29 prominent public figures at the presidential Blue House.

    Analysts said the invitation was a bid by the president to win back public support and seek national harmony. It was their first meeting in three years.


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