Misery Loves Company

The GNP seems to have a fairly definite position on Roh Moo-Hyun’s invitation to form a coalition government.

It might be difficult, however, to find a compromise point over the presidential suggestion, as GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye had dismissed the idea, saying, “[Discussion of a coalition government] is over. There is no reason for further negotiations as the GNP has already clarified its position.

Any questions?

I’d like a Korean perspective on this. I suspect that to Americans in particular, this idea is simply laughable. Is there any political appeal to this for Koreans? It simply seems a transparent effort to dull the oncoming pain of incumbency.

Meanwhile, Uri’s misery deepens. It has lost another seat to election law violations, which puts it at 145 of 299. Any regular OFK reader knows I’m an Uri non-fan, but I am troubled by the idea that the judiciary has the power to unseat a member of the National Assembly by calibrating the amount of the fine it imposes. I’m a big believer in an independent judiciary; this is a powerful temptation to politicize it.