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RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 2013
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RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J2 SEOUL KOR
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UNCLAS SEOUL 001934 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KS
SUBJECT: NGOS KEEP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ON THEIR TOES 
 
REF: SEOUL 1848 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: South Korean NGOs' influence on politics has 
 grown, but so has criticism of NGOs.  Currently, NGOs are 
diversifying their ideology and evolving in their political 
roles.  Left-wing NGOs tend to move toward active 
participation in institutionalized politics, even forming 
political parties and producing presidential candidates. 
Right-wing and moderate NGOs are diverse in approach: most 
try to stay neutral and stick to monitoring the candidates' 
 pledges; some are explicitly supportive of the conservative 
Grand National Party (GNP).  Despite these dynamics, many 
pundits speculate that NGOs are not likely to influence this 
year's presidential elections as much as they did in 2002. 
NGOs will continue to be important watchdogs of the election, 
however.  END SUMMARY 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
NGOS IN POLITICS: GROWING INFLUENCE AND CRITICISM 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (U) The rapid growth of nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs) in South Korean society have made them a powerful 
force.  In particular, NGOs' increasingly active 
participation in politics, starting in the 1990s, stands out. 
 Some decided to use their role to influence who would be 
elected to public office.  In April 2000, "Civil Action for 
 the 2000 General Elections," a coalition of 400-odd NGOs, 
decided to "reject" politicians it viewed as unqualified 
candidates for the National Assembly.  That same year, the 
Korea Federation of Environmental Movement (KFEM) supported 
45 independent, progressive candidates as "Green Candidates" 
 fifteen of whom were elected.  In the 2002 presidential 
election, some NGOs considered to be leftist played a big 
role in getting Roh Moo-hyun into the presidency.  After 
being elected, Roh explicitly thanked the NGOS for their 
support, according to press reports. Roh reportedly said 
"(he) would not have been elected if it were not for civic 
groups."  This year, Choi Yul, the seminal figure on the 
Korean NGO scene who led the Korea Federation of 
Environmental Movement (KFEM) and other NGO activists, 
founded "Future Initiative for Integration & Prosperity" 
(FIIP).  The organization aims to produce its own candidate 
 for the upcoming presidential election and to participate in 
 creating a new progressive party.  (See paragraph 7 for 
 more information.) 
 
¶3. (U) Along with their rising influence, however, criticism 
against NGOs also has been growing.  Because NGOs have been 
so widely involved in politics, some NGOs are seen as 
political organizations with the goal of supporting the 
current government instead of being watchdogs.  Having seen 
some NGO activists recruited to the government and go into 
politics, the public now tends to view activists with 
suspicion.  According to a survey done by Korea Society 
Opinion Institute in June 2006, 52.6 percent of the 
respondents said they did not "trust" the NGOs while only 
41.5 percent said they did.  This is in a sharp contrast to 
 the survey in 2003-4 done by Samsung Economic Research 
Institute, in which NGOs ranked first among trustworthy 
organizations.  By 2005 they ranked fifth. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
NGO'S ACTIONS IN 2000 ELECTIONS: A STEP TOO FAR? 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶4. (U) Internal discord over their role in politics also 
emerged among NGOs when the Rejection Campaign in the 2000 
 regional election was declared illegal by the Seoul 
Regional Court, and officers of the coalition, including Choi 
 Yul, were fined USD 2 - 3,000.  The controversy peaked when 
 the conservative organizations began to emerge as the "New 
Rights" aiming to replace the so-called "Old right force" 
after GNP's failure in the 2004 National Assembly election. 
(Note: The GNP loss was largely due to backlash over its 
failed efforts to get President Roh's impeached.  END NOTE.) 
 In its initial stage, the New Rights' biggest organizations, 
 Liberty Union and New Rights Union (NRU), both called for 
active participation in politics to resurrect Korea's 
conservatism.  Some organizations, including the New Rights, 
 argue that NGOs were political organizations and should 
participate in politics to accommodate the public's demands 
spectrum and that NGOs lost credibility because they were not 
 active enough.  In contrast, others said NGOs should not be 
politicized and remain neutral. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
PROGRESSIVE NGOS MAKE NO BONES ABOUT THEIR POLITICAL 
ACTIVITIES 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶5. (U) South Korean NGOs are diversifying into different 
directions, left and right, and undergoing different 
evolutionary processes, according to Professor Park Jai Chang 
 of Sookmyung Women's University.  Like other NGOs in 
 the West, some NGOs are evolving from doing advocacy to 
participating in the policy process, and to forming a party. 
  As a group, left-wing NGOs tend to move toward active 
participation in institutionalized politics, to the extent of 
 forming parties.  On the other hand, right-wing and moderate 
 NGOs are less inclined to go in that direction.  Some lean 
toward active participation but only as far as supporting a 
specific party or candidate.  Others call for neutrality in 
politics and a return to addressing grassroots, non-political 
 issues. 
 
¶6. (U) On the progressive side, FIIP stands out as the most 
 politically active civic group.  At a press conference on 
June 11, 2007, FIIP announced the launch of "Committee for 
Creating a New Party" which would create a new progressive 
party by late July of this year.  The Committee is led by 
Choi Yul and Kim Ho-jin, former Minister of Labor, and 
consists of 69 members.  The members are mostly NGO activists 
 and academics.  Criticizing existing parties and politicians, 
 the Committee called for a "new progressive (political) 
framework and politicians."  The Committee said in its 
statement that it will align with "all groups that agree 
with (the Committee's) principles" and "actively pursue a 
broad integration of progressive groups."  Arguing for the 
need to produce "a presidential candidate with the public's 
support," the Committee said it will run primaries that 
reflect the public's will. 
 
¶7. (U) Both Uri Party and the newly announced Moderate 
Unified Democrats (MUD) have been eyeing FIIP as a potential 
 partner to form a new political group toward a broad 
integration, the "grand union" of progressive parties.  Uri 
 Party members have reportedly contacted NGOs for possible 
recruitment of high-profile individuals into their ranks to 
 gain the upper hand in the eventual consolidation of the 
ruling camp.  Some pundits speculate that the Committee will 
 support Sohn Hak-kyu,a former governor of Gyeonggi Province, 
 or Mun Kuk-hyun, CEO of Yuhan Kimberly, rumored to be 
interested in the candidacy, as their candidate. 
 
¶8. (U) Compared to progressive NGOs, conservative NGOs are 
more divided on how involved they should be in politics.  At 
the extreme right, New Right Union's (NRU) co-chairman, Rev. 
Kim Jin-hong, publicly declared its support for the GNP in 
September 2006.  Established in 2005, NRU was "inaugurated 
with a slogan to end the leftist power," according to Jhe 
Seong-ho, a law professor at Chung Ang University and NRU's 
co-chairperson.  Jhe argued that NRU is both a civil society 
organization and political movement organization.  More 
moderate than NRU, Liberty Union is led by Shin Ji-ho and 
tries to keep some distance from politics.  According to Shin, 
 Liberty Union is broader and different from NRU in that its 
goal is "advancing the nation through liberalist revolution"; 
 it does not support the GNP unconditionally but is "willing 
to support a candidate from even Uri Party if he or she 
corresponds with the New Right Movement."  Liberty Union 
will conduct a policy review campaign based on the newly 
published "New Right Korea Report," prepared for the 2007 
presidential election. 
 
¶9. (U) New Right NGOs are not above taking advisory roles for 
 politicians.  Individuals from New Right organizations are 
also being courted by presidential hopefuls, especially from 
the GNP.  On June 11, during the announcement of his 
candidacy for GNP primaries, Lee Myung-bak, proposed forming 
a "ROK Advancement Promotion Council" that includes the GNP, 
New Rights, moderate, conservative, civic and political 
groups.  Meanwhile, Park Geun-hye, his close rival in the GNP 
 primaries, has been continuously speaking 
at or attending events hosted by NRU. 
¶10. (U) These civic groups on both sides all concede that 
they are different from traditional NGOs.  As Park Byung-ok, 
 secretary general of Citizens' Coalition for Economic 
Justice (CCEJ) argued that NGOs in Korea are inherently 
defined as politically neutral organizations.  In fact, 
civic groups prefer to call themselves "political 
organizations," "political movement organizations" or "public 
 interest NGOs." 
 
----------------------------------------- 
SOME NGOS VOW TO STAY POLITICALLY NEUTRAL 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (U) Unlike civic organizations at each end of the 
ideological spectrum, many moderate NGOs are trying to stay 
neutral in or keep away from politics.  On May 22, 2007, 
Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ), Young 
Korean Academy, Christian Ethics Movement and Green Future 
launched the "Committee on Preparation for NGO Social 
Responsibility Movement."  Recalling that NGOs are 
experiencing a crisis of increasing criticism and decreasing 
public support, they argued that NGOs have lost touch with 
the average citizens and should address issues of everyday 
life.  The Committee aims to come up with NGO guidelines 
after reviewing public demands.  People's Solidarity for 
Participatory Democracy (PSPD) will also focus on activities 
to improve average citizens' quality of life, its secretary 
general Kim Min-young said.  Green Foundation's Rieh 
Mi-kyoung, managing director, also told poloff that the 
organization will remain neutral and emphasized that Choi 
Yul, president of the Foundation, is putting on a different 
hat as an individual in politics. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
NGOS AGREE ON THE VALUE OF MONITORING CANDIDATES 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶12. (U) Most NGOs and experts, regardless of their political 
involvement and ideological differences, agree that NGOs 
should continue to review the candidates and their policies 
in the presidential election.  In a recently televised debate, 
 representatives from NGOs ranging from the conservative to 
the progressive all agreed on that, though on little else. 
Park Hyo-jong, who leads Citizens United for Better Society 
(CUBS), a moderate-conservative NGO, argued that political 
neutrality is important for NGOs and that CUBS will review 
the candidates' morals and filter out policies aimed to serve 
 special interests.  Park Byung-ok from CCEJ, agreed and 
announced plans to review pledges by comparing them with 
pledges from the 2002 Presidential election.  CCEJ will grade 
 candidates' policies separately in each area but will not 
come up with a total score, which would be equal to 
supporting the candidate.  Kim Min-young, secretary general 
of PSPD, also said that PSPD will monitor the pledges, 
especially on the issue of illegal political funds. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶13. (U) NGOs are not likely to influence the 2007 presidential 
 elections as directly as they did in 2002 but they will 
continue to play an important watchdog role.  In addition, 
Korean NGOs often substitute for political parties in bridging 
 the gap between the public and the government, as Kim Il from 
 Joongang Ilbo's Civil Society Institute and Professor Park 
told us.  However, it seems that South Korean NGOs face a 
choice:  whether to stay away from politics to maintain their 
credibility in their areas of advocacy, or whether to jump 
into the political fray and be regarded essentially as 
political parties. 
VERSHBOW