Word: cholla
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...DIED. PARK TAE-YOUNG, 63, governor of South Korea's South Cholla province, of injuries sustained from jumping off a bridge into the Han River; in Seoul. Park was under investigation by the Seoul District Public Prosecutor's Office for suspected corruption while he was president of the National Health Insurance Corp. His is the fourth apparent suicide in the past year of a Korean business or political leader suspected of graft or bribery...
...plenty working against him?starting with the swooning world economy and regional rivalries at home (he doesn't have much support outside his own province of Cholla). But many Koreans place blame for their woes on the man who once stood as a national symbol of hope. Traits that helped him survive as a dissident fighting Korea's military dictatorships?unshakable self-confidence, an unwilling-ness to compromise, a fiery independent streak?have turned into liabilities. Even supporters say his authoritarian style and inability to listen have contributed to a political crisis that culminated in last week's train wreck...
...hindsight, there were clues to Kim's obstinate leadership style. His single-minded pursuit of the presidency is legendary. Kang Won Yong, head of the Peace Forum, an NGO that promotes North-South relations, first met Kim when the future President came to Seoul from Cholla half a century ago. After dictator Park Chung Hee kidnapped and then released the dissident in 1973, Kim met furtively with Kang in a garage. Afraid of wiretaps, Kim used improvised sign language: a big nose meant the Americans, a tap on the shoulder signified epaulets?Korea's generals. Kim said just one thing...
...Decades later, Kang saw a less laudable side. During the 1997 presidential campaign, Kim knew he couldn't win enough seats to govern because the bulk of his support was in Cholla. So he joined with ultra-conservative Kim Jong Pil, the United Liberal Democrats party leader who bolted from the ruling coalition last week. Many saw it as a pact with the devil. In 1961, J.P. (as he is known) had set up the notorious Korean Central Intelligence Agency, which harassed the future President and regularly interrogated and tortured his aides. (J.P. was Prime Minister when Kim was kidnapped...
...recent offer to restart stalled talks might mean one more chance to end half a century of hostility on the peninsula?and give Kim an opportunity to salvage his presidency. But he'll have to shore up his home base first. Even in Mok'po, the port city in Cholla where he got his political start, he is no longer a hero. Just ask Ko Seong Ju. More than 50 years ago, Ko worked the printing press for a local newspaper that Kim was running. Kim once gave him a ride along the beach in a jeep, a thrill...