Main opposition party has no hope to change

Daniel Tudor, the author of the book, "Democracy Delayed" / Courtesy of Munhakdongne Ex-Economist correspondent calls for citizens' participation to make a difference The cover of "Democracy Delayed" By Kim Hyo-jin  There are a number of things a party needs to do if it wants to win an election. So far, under its current leadership, Korea's main opposition party has failed to do the most important one — developing a clear vision for reform, according to a prominent British journalist. "I think it's too late for the main opposition party to change," said Daniel Tudor, a former correspondent of The Economist, in an interview with The Korea Times on June 4. His remarks came as the New Politics Alliance for Democracy is struggling to revive its plunging popularity and resolve its internal strife by creating a reform committee. "It's not about their policies, but about who they are," he said, referring to the "386 Generation," the dominant group within the party comprising of Koreans who fought against the dictatorship in the 1980s. "The foundation of the party is rooted in a protest and opposition culture. They never offer anything positive and fail to present reasons when insisting the need for a regime change." "They exist to oppose the ruling Saenuri Party." Tudor, the author of the book "Korea: The Impossible Country," recently published his second book, "Democracy Delayed" in Korean. The book focuses on how the NPAD keeps itself out of power and consequently loses public support. He said this tendency is the main factor that pulls back Korean democracy. The one-time Seoul-based correspondent covered South and North Korea from 2011 to 2013. He covered the National Assembly during and before the 2012 presidential election. His frequent visits to the opposition party's office made him realize the NPAD's fundamental flaws, Tudor said. "All I heard was the story about their protest activities back in the 1980s," he said, citing meetings with the party members during the previous election campaign. "There was no presentation of their policies." Without presenting practical policies, the NPAD is not convincing the people that it can do a better job when it takes office, he said. Remaining as a "closed club," the party also lacks reform-minded professional personnel, he added. "They need experienced people in budget, risk management and other professional aspects, but I bet they are not trying to bring new people into the party." Further, he criticized the party's negative campaigns, saying it is a poor election strategy that hardly appeals to the public. A negative outlook on the NPAD  The NPAD has been seeking to establish a policy foundation since Moon Jae-in took over the party in February. Under the themes "competent party in economy policies" and "economic democratization," Chairman Moon has widely publicized that the NPAD is prioritizing reviving the economy to improve people's livelihoods. To this end, the party suggested raising the minimum wage by up to 50 percent of the average wage of regular workers, reducing the number of irregular workers, providing welfare to assist people with living costs, raising corporate taxes and eliminating household debt. During the party workshop on Wednesday, NPAD floor leader Rep. Lee Jong-kul pledged to boost the party's efforts to realize "economic democratization." But Tudor expects that such a move would not turn the party around. "It's reactive," he said, mentioning that the slogan was already presented by the ruling Saenuri Party during the 2012 presidential election campaign. "They are following the trend rather than identifying the problem and the policies that would deal with the problem," he said. "As a center-left party, they should have led the movement a long time ago." His outlook on the party is negative. "A political party should either have an ideology and a strong policy foundation or exist to win the election," he said. "With no single goal, the NPAD has no reason to exist. If something comes along that is center-left and attractive, I think it would very quickly eliminate this party." The author believes the citizens' participation makes a difference in politics, citing Italy's Five Star Movement as an example. As the founder of the Internet-based party, ex-comedian Beppe Grillo has prompted a large number of Italians to look beyond mainstream parties and into populist alternatives. The movement eventually endorsed candidates and is now the nation's second-biggest party. Calling it a "grassroots democracy," he encourages online and offline meetings where people can freely express themselves. "I'm suggesting a platform. Once you start expressing yourself, you might become addicted to it," he said. "Rather than going to ‘talk concerts' to listen to someone else's opinion, you make your own voice." His suggestion could resonate with the young people. Tudor himself has established a crowd-funded online media platform, Byline, which seeks to revolutionize the existing media landscape. This U.K.-based startup enables users to create their own personalized newspapers while supporting independent journalism. "Strategically, most of this kind of startup fail. But we are just trying a lot of different things, and if it works, it has a big payoff," he said. "Likewise, with the book, I don't have any expectations to change (Korean politics). But you know, you still try to change things. And if citizen participation movement really happens in Korea, it will be amazing."