Kim Moon-soo and Chung Dong-young

A joke about politicians goes like this: A politician was hit by a lightning and dead while playing golf. He had a grin on his face, because he thought it was camera flash light. Politicians give up on their dreams only when coffin is nailed. It's just satirical humor. I also heard the following from a lawmaker who had lost an election. “It doesn’t feel real right after you lost an election. But once you are getting no more calls from journalists from the next day, you start to feel empty...”

Chung Dong-young ran for the National Assembly at Dongjak-eul District of Seoul in just four months after he lost by a largest margin in history of 5.31 million votes at the 2007 presidential election. However, he lost again to Chung Mong-joon, who ran in a new district after giving in the one he was guaranteed a seat. Chung Dong-young left his party and was elected in his previous home ground of Deokjin District, Jeonju, in April the following year. In 2012 general elections, he lost in Gangnam-eul and ran in Gwanak-eul, Seoul three years later after betraying his party again, to no avail. In this year’s April 13 general elections, he joined the People’s Party and won in Jeonju.

I had a chance to have a dinner with Kim Moon-soo, former governor of Gyeonggi Province, not long after he had first joined the National Assembly in 1996. At that time, he was surprisingly interested in the backstitch of the T-shirt I was wearing. He recalled the time when he had gotten a fake job at a fabric plant in 1971 as a sophomore business administration major at Seoul National University. He highly praises accomplishments of former presidents Rhee Syngman and Park Chung-hee, an unusual view for a former student activist. He tried to become a conservative icon, but was never really beloved by the conservatives. He achieved much during his term as governor, but is still rather undervalued.

Mr. Kim is seeking a leadership position at the Saenuri Party’s convention scheduled on August 9. It is disappointing that the person who seemed to aim for a "bigger dream" after winning the election in Daegu, the city of conservatives, is now simply shooting for a high rank position. “My purpose is to put our party in power again, although it means to give up presidency for myself...” His excuse sounds lame. His competitor will be Rep. Kim Yong-tae, who was a sole incumbent supporter during the 2012 presidential election. Politics seem to have a toxicity of a drug for politicians.

박제균논설위원 phark@donga.com