Kim Hyun-chul, the second son of the late President Kim Young-sam, had a powerful nickname when his father was in office — “little president.”
The junior Kim was said to have been one of the late president’s aides who stood beside him during his years of democratic struggle. After Kim Young-sam entered Cheong Wa Dae, however, Kim Hyun-chul started to peddle influence in various state affairs involving major conglomerates who wanted to reach out to the president. In 1997, as his father’s presidency neared its end, he was handed a two-year jail term for accepting illegal political funds and evading taxes.
The fall of the little president had not only tarnished his father’s image of a clean leader, but also thwarted his own ambitions for politics.
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| Kim Hyun-chul, second son of the late President Kim Young-sam. Yonhap |
Fighting heavy criticism, Kim struggled to follow in his father’s footsteps for years. But it never worked well as the senior Kim’s political influence diminished as well as the junior’s indelible history as a disgraceful son.
The former president’s death last week, however, has brought Kim Hyun-chul back into the spotlight along with a tricky question: Will he continue to chase his unfulfilled dream?
Representing his family, Kim greeted thousands of mourners including President Park Geun-hye and leaders of the rival parties as well as retired, but prominent, politicians who worked with the deceased.
Spreading his father’s message of the national unity and harmony, Kim tried to revive his father’s legacy, saying his political achievements had been underestimated. His role in honoring the former president’s nearly forgotten legacy, however, was interpreted by many as him gearing up for the parliamentary race next year.
After serving his prison term, Kim left for the U.S. and returned home in 2008, starting his career as a vice director at an institute specializing in politics.
Declaring that he would not live his life as the president’s son, but as Kim Hyun-chul, he made a public appeal that he was ready to stand on his own. But things were not as easy for him as it had been in the early ’90s, as the party his father had built decades ago turned its back on him. He failed to get the Saenuri Party’s nomination twice, in 2008 and 2012. In protest, Hyun-chul defected from the party and publicly endorsed opposition candidate Moon Jae-in.
He even denounced the Saenuri Party’s then-candidate Park, saying she was her father’s political partner, who ruled the country with an iron fist. Mentioning his father’s legacy, he said the passion he had for the nation’s democracy should be continued through the victory of democratic forces, referring to the opposition party.
Despite the not-so-welcoming mood, Kim continued to seek a parliamentary seat, this time with the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy. He said he would run in a by-election for the Dongjak-B constituency in July, but the attempt was frustrated due to factional feuds that intensified within the NPAD at that time.
Amid growing speculations on his pursuit of a parliamentary seat along with renewed attention on his father’s legacy, Kim wrote on his Facebook account on Sunday that he would leave politics from now on and live a quiet life in honor of his father’s message.
Kim’s message drew mixed reactions that he was dropping his bid for the April 13 general elections and that he would leave politics forever.
An aide to Kim told Yonhap news agency, however, that he was probably not considering leaving politics, but rather seeking ways to realize his father’s message, not necessarily in the boundaries of politics.
By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)
