Lee Ki-taek

Lee Ki-taek (Korean: 이기택, 25 July 1937 – 20 February 2016) was a South Korean politician and parliamentarian.

Lee Ki-taek
이기택
Lee Ki-taek in October 1974
Chairman of Grand National Party (Acting)
In office 5 August 1998 – 30 August 1998
Preceded by	Cho Soon
Succeeded by	Lee Hoi-chang
Chairman of United Democratic Party
In office 4 June 1996 – 10 September 1997
Preceded by	Park Il Chang Eul-byung
Succeeded by	Cho Soon
President of Democratic Party
In office 16 September 1991 – 28 August 1995 serving with Kim Dae-jung until 18 December 1992
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Hong Young-ki Park Il
Chairman of Democratic Party
In office 3 February 1991 – 16 September 1991
Preceded by	Kim Hyun-kyu acting
Succeeded by	Position abolished
In office 15 June 1990 – 16 November 1990
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Kim Hyun-kyu acting
Member of the National Assembly
In office 30 May 1992 – 29 May 1996
Constituency	Proportional
In office 30 May 1988 – 29 May 1992
Preceded by	Himself (along with Yoo Heung-soo, as South & Haeundae)
Succeeded by	Kim Woon-hwan
Constituency	Haeundae District
In office 11 April 1985 – 29 May 1988 serving with Yoo Heung-soo
Preceded by	Lee Heung-soo Kim Seung-mok
Succeeded by	Heo Jae-hong (South 1st) Chung Sang-koo (South 2nd) Himself (South 3rd)
Constituency	South & Haeundae District
In office 12 March 1973 – 27 December 1980 serving with Yang Chan-woo
Preceded by	Yang Chan-woo (1st) Himself (2nd)
Succeeded by	Park Kwan-yong Kim Jin-jae
Constituency	Dongrae District
In office 1 July 1971 – 27 October 1972
Preceded by	Lim Kap-soo
Succeeded by	Yang Chan-woo Himself
Constituency	Dongrae District 2nd
In office 1 July 1967 – 30 June 1971
Constituency	Proportional
Personal details
Born	25 July 1937 Youngil County, North Gyeongsang Province, Japanese Korea (present-day Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea)
Died	20 February 2016 (aged 78) St. Mary's Hospital, Seoul, South Korea
Citizenship	South Korean
Political party	New Democratic Party (1967-1980) New Korea and Democratic Party (1985-1987) United Democratic Party (1987-1990) Democratic Party (L) (1990-1991) Democratic Party (1991-1995) United Democratic Party (1995-1997) Grand National Party (1997-2000;2007-2012) Democratic National Party (2000) Saenuri Party (2012-2016)
Spouse(s)	Lee Kyung-ui
Children	Lee Sung-ho Lee Woo-in Lee Ji-in Lee Se-in
Alma mater	Korea University
Occupation	Politician

Started as a youth politician of New Democratic Party in 1967, he served as the Chairman of Democratic Party, a splinter group of United Democratic Party known as "Little Democrats", from 1990 to 1991, and also as a Co-President of newly formed Democratic Party along with Kim Dae-jung from 1991 to 1992, and solely from 1992 to 1995. He also served as the Chairman for United Democratic Party from 1996 to 1997, and temporarily for Grand National Party in 1998. He was also a long-term Member of the National Assembly between the period of 1967 to 1996.

Early life

Lee Ki-taek was born in Youngil County, North Gyeongsang Province (now in Pohang) on 25 July 1937.[1] He had to move to Busan with his family in 1950 due to the Korean War. He was educated at Busan Commercial High School (now Kaesong High School),[1] and earned a bachelor's degree in commerce,[2] and also a master's degree in business administration from Korea University, where he used to be the President of Student Council and led a protest against election fraud of the President Syngman Rhee and his Freedom Party, which occurred the fall of the government.[2][1] In 1961, he became the Division Chief in South Gyeongsang Province of Democratic Youth Committee.[3]

Political career

Early years

Prior to the 1967 election, Lee was brought to New Democratic Party (NDP) by its Chairman, Yoo Jin-oh. He then ran 14th in the NDP list and elected as the youngest MP in South Korean history.[2][1] He formed Pan-Youth Resistance Committee within the party, and led a protest against constitutional amendment proposed by Park Chung-hee, President of the Republic, and his ruling Democratic Republican Party.[lower-alpha 1][4] In 1971 election, he switched to Dongrae District 2nd constituency (also known as Busan 3rd constituency) and won.[2] He was continuously elected to newly-formed Dongrae District constituency in 1973 and 1978 election.[2]

Lee was also a critic for Kim Young-sam, who was elected as the party's Chairman in 1974. He endorsed Lee Cheol-seung (CS) in 1976 leadership election, and CS could be elected as the new President of NDP, defeating Kim.[5] Lee was then appointed as secretary-general by CS, but soon after, both were estranged from each other.

Lee ran for the chairmanship in 1979 leadership election.[6] He received 17.8%, came to 3rd behind of Lee Cheol-seung and Kim Young-sam, and was eliminated from the 1st round.[7] In the 2nd round, he endorsed Kim, who narrowly beat CS.[7] Kim then appointed Lee as Deputy Chairman,[8] which made him as the youngest person to hold the position in South Korea.

1980s

Lee was banned from politics by New Military of Chun Doo-hwan in 1980,[2] therefore unable to run in 1981 election. His constituency was then taken over by Park Kwan-yong, Lee's secretary, and Kim Jin-jae. He then moved to the United States and worked as a visiting professor in University of Pennsylvania.

After his political ban was lifted in 1984, Lee subsequently joined New Korea and Democratic Party (NKDP), along with Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung. Originally, he was intended to run for Dongrae District, where he used to be an MP of, in 1985 election. However, the constituency was already taken over by Park Kwan-young, who was elected under the banner of Democratic Korea Party in 1981 and switched to NKDP in 1984. He then decided to run for Haeundae and South District constituency, and successfully returned as MP.[2]

Lee served as Deputy Chairman under Lee Min-woo, who was elected for the chairmanship in 1985 leadership election. Soon, the party faced an internal conflicts, after Lee Min-woo announced his own plan (known as "Lee Min-woo Plan") that supported parliamentary system.[9] This was strongly objected by Kim Young-sam (YS) and Kim Dae-jung (DJ), who advocated to maintain the incumbent presidential system but sought for direct election of the President.[9] Both YS, DJ, and their followers left NKDP and founded United Democratic Party (UDP) on 21 April 1987.[10] Lee was also one of them, but did not join UDP till the 29 June Declaration.[2]

In 1988 election, Lee ran for Haeundae District and re-elected.[2] He served as the Deputy Chairman of UDP from 1987 to 1989, and also the parliamentary leader, replacing Seo Seok-jae, in 1989. He was also the President of Special Investigative Committee established to investigate the corruptions regarding with the ruling Democratic Justice Party.

1990s

On 22 January 1990, Kim Young-sam (YS), Chairman of UDP, declared to the party's merger with Democratic Justice Party and New Democratic Republican Party, in order to form Democratic Liberal Party (DLP).[11] Lee, who led the party's dissidents, refused to join and formed Democratic Party, commonly known as "Little Democrats".[12] He subsequently became the party's Chairman, but then decided to merge with Kim Dae-jung (DJ)'s New Democratic Unionist Party (NDUP) after the serious defeat in 1991 local elections.[13]

On 16 September 1991, both NDUP and Little Democrats was combined altogether and re-founded as Democratic Party.[14] Both DJ and Lee was elected as Co-Presidents.[14] In 1992 election, he switched to proportional and won as 2nd.[2]

Prior to the presidential election in 1992, Lee ran for the presidential primary on 26 May, but defeated with a large margin to DJ.[15] Nevertheless, DJ was widely criticised for his controversial remarks, which called rural voters as "pro-DLP", and/or "pro-Roh Tae-woo".[16] DJ lost to YS, and declared his retirement from politics.[17] Lee solely became the party's president, and was re-elected in 1993.[18]

The Democratic Party then absorbed New Korea Party of Lee Jong-chan in the early 1995,[19] and won the local elections in 1995.[20] However, shortly after, DJ officially returned to politics, and conflicts were sparked.[21] The party's pro-DJ factions, not excluding DJ himself, left and founded a new party, named National Congress for New Politics (NCNP).[22] Lee, who was in charge of this incident, had to resign his presidency. His party, was re-built as United Democratic Party (UDP) on 21 December.

Lee ran for Haeundae & Gijang 1st constituency in 1996 election, but lost to the ruling New Korea Party (NKP)'s Kim Woon-hwan,[2] which ended his MP career for almost 30 years. Shortly after the defeat, he was elected as the Chairman of UDP. He kept trying to return as MP, and in 1997 by-elections, he ran for North District of Pohang, where he was born, but defeated to Park Tae-joon,[2] who soon became a crucial figure of Alliance of DJP. He resigned his chairmanship on 11 September, and was replaced by Cho Soon, ex-Mayor of Seoul.

Under the leadership of Cho, UDP decided to merge with the ruling NKP, in order to overcome its minority position. Both were merged into Grand National Party (GNP), and most of members including Lee automatically joined to the new party, despite of some dissidents who refused to join i.e. Roh Moo-hyun. Cho then became the Chairman of newly-formed GNP. Since GNP was de facto the ruling party, this was the first time that Lee became a ruling politician.[lower-alpha 2] Nevertheless, GNP's presidential candidate, Lee Hoi-chang, lost to NCNP's Kim Dae-jung, and Lee became again as an opposition politician.

After GNP lost to Alliance of DJP in 1998 local elections, Cho resigned his chairmanship. Lee was the acting Chairman, till Lee Hoi-chang was newly-elected.

2000s and after

Prior to 2000 election, GNP faced a conflicts regarding with preselections. The party's dissidents, including Lee, left and established Democratic National Party (DNP).[2] He was preselected as MP candidate for Yeonje District, but lost to GNP's Kwon Tae-mang.

During the presidential election in 2002, he supported Roh Moo-hyun, the presidential candidate of Millennium Democratic Party.[23] Roh was then elected as the President of the Republic, but Lee subsequently declined his endorsement towards Roh due to the ideological conflicts. He did not run as MP from 2004 election.

In 2007 presidential election, Lee Ki-taek endorsed GNP's candidate Lee Myung-bak (MB).[24] He then re-joined GNP, and was appointed to National Unification Advisory Council on 1 September 2008.[25] After that, he was also involved in various organisations.

Death and legacy

Lee passed away on 20 February 2016, in St. Mary's Hospital of Seoul, aged 78.[26][2] The day before he died, he completed his reminiscences[26] named The Way of a Cow (Korean: 우행).[27] This was released on 15 September 2017.[27]

Several politicians put comments regarding with him.[27]

He always acted if he needed a belief and impetuousness.

— Chung Se-kyun, former Speaker of the National Assembly (2016-2018)

His leadership was represented as gentleness. The "leadership of listening", which broke the stubbornness but also fulfilled the willingness, was absolutely impressive.

— Moon Hee-sang, Speaker of the National Assembly (2018-)

He led a student movement, which led to the April Revolution. I, as one of his juniors, can now learn the history of South Korean politics deeper by reading his reminiscences.

— Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul (2011-)

Personal life

Lee Ki-taek married to Lee Kyung-ui, and had a son (Lee Sung-ho) and 3 daughters ― Lee Woo-in, Lee Ji-in, and Lee Se-in.

Lee's other family members were also key members of Taekwang Industry.[4][28]

Election results

Year	Constituency	Political party	Votes (%)	Remarks
1967	Proportional (14th)	NDP	3,554,224 (32.70%)	Won
1971	Dongrae (2nd)	NDP	34,471 (65.89%)	Won
1973	Dongrae	NDP	57,757 (39.23%)	Won
1978	Dongrae	NDP	117,216 (40.14%)	Won
1985	South & Haeundae	NKDP	159,127 (43.00%)	Won
1988	Haeundae	UDP	54,223 (58.30%)	Won
1992	Proportional (2nd)	Democratic	6,004,578 (29.20%)	Won
1996	Haeundae & Gijang	UDP	55,163 (47.65%)	Lost
1997	Pohang North	UDP	35,137 (28.33%)	Lost
2000	Yeonje	DNP	26,060 (26.53%)	Lost

Notes

1. Park Chung-hee and Democratic Republican Party proposed a constitutional amendment, which allows the maximum 3 terms of the President (originally only up to 2 terms).
2. President Kim Young-sam was expelled from NKP before the formation of GNP, therefore GNP was de jure an opposition.

References

1. "[삶과 추억] 이기택 전 민주당 총재 별세". 21 February 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
2. "노무현 꾸짖은 '평생 야당인' 이기택 타계". 22 February 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
3. "[속보] 이기택 전 민주당 총재 20일 오전 별세…향년 79세". 20 February 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
4. "이기택 전 신민당 부총재, "YS는 폭이 넓고 용기가 있지만 속이 허한 사람"". 27 November 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
5. "'조폭 현황 보고서' 단독입수 "김태촌은…"". 15 January 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
6. "신민 이기택씨 당수출마 선언". 29 May 1979. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
7. "전당대회 폐막 신민 새총재 김영삼씨". 31 May 1979. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
8. "이기택 최연소 사무총장 지낸 4.19세대". 2 June 1979. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
9. "「이민우구상」 신민 계속진통". 7 January 1987. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
10. "가칭 통일민주당, 신당 창당 진통[하금렬]". 21 April 1987. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
11. "민정, 민주, 공화당 합당 통한 신당 창당 공시[김성수]". 22 January 1990. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
12. "이기택 민주당 총재, 김대중 총재 방문해 야권 통합 논의[엄기영]". 18 June 1990. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
13. "야당 내부에서 선거 패배에 따른 문책론 제기[신용진]". 21 June 1991. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
14. "민주당 공식출범". 16 September 1991. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
15. "민주 대통령후보 김대중씨". 27 May 1992. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
16. "후보가 유세장서 「유권자 비판」". 5 December 1992. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
17. "김대중씨 "정계은퇴 선언" 안팎". 19 December 1992. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
18. "민주당 새대표 이기택씨". 12 March 1993. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
19. "민주, 새한국당—재야 통합 전당대회". 25 February 1995. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
20. "부산 文正秀 경남 金爀珪씨 당선". 28 June 1995. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
21. "민주, 새한국당—재야 통합 전당대회". 18 July 1995. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
22. "새정치국민회의 창당…제1야당 출범 김대통령에 회담 제의". 6 September 1995. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
23. "다시 만난 노무현과 이기택". 4 December 2002. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
24. "이기택, 이명박 지지선언". 16 July 2007. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
25. "민주평통 수석부의장 이기택씨". 1 September 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
26. "이기택 전 총재, 별세 전날 회고록 탈고". 20 February 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
27. "故 이기택 회고록 '우행' 출판기념회에 옛 동지들 대거 출동". 15 September 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
28. ""태광으로 인해 내 전 재산 다 잃었다"". 10 May 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2019.