Senior Vice Chair Lee Hae-chan of The Peaceful Unification Advisory Council (PUAC) died on the 25th. He was a first-generation student activist who served seven terms as a lawmaker, prime minister, and leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. He is also regarded as having played the Democratic Party's "kingmaker" role multiple times in presidential elections.
◇ First-generation student activist, seven-term lawmaker, prime minister, Democratic Party leader, presidential "kingmaker"
Senior Vice Chair Lee Hae-chan was born in 1952 in Cheongyang, South Chungcheong. After entering the sociology department at Seoul National University, he became a first-generation activist who threw himself into the student movement in October 1972 with the Yooshin as the catalyst.
Ahead of the 13th general election in 1988, he entered politics when he was recruited into the Peace Democratic Party, whose president was former President Kim Dae-jung. Running in Seoul's Gwanak B against Kim Jong-in of the Democratic Justice Party, who was seeking a third term, he defied expectations and won by a margin of about 5,000 votes. He then went on to win seats in the 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th and 20th National Assemblies, recording seven terms. He served as prime minister in the Roh Moo-hyun administration. He retired from politics in 2020 during the Moon Jae-in administration after completing his term as Democratic Party leader. When the Lee Jae-myung administration launched last year, he became senior vice chair of the PUAC.
He had long been called the Democratic Party's "kingmaker." In the first local elections in 1995, he oversaw campaign strategy for Seoul mayoral candidate Cho Soon and led him to victory, later serving as vice mayor for political affairs. He continued to work on Democratic Party presidential campaigns, helping elect presidents three times.
At a reception on Sept. 22, 2020, at the Westin Josun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, celebrating the publication of his memoir My Life to the People, he said, "Including my elections, presidential elections, and local elections, I have fought roughly 15 elections. Fortunately, I have never lost my own elections and have come this far well."
◇ Close with every president from the Democratic Party
Over a political life approaching 40 years, he was also known for his close ties with every president produced by the Democratic Party. He could be described as "close" with Presidents Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, Moon Jae-in and Lee Jae-myung.
In the Kim Dae-jung era, he was a key figure of the Donggyo-dong faction, and in the Roh Moo-hyun era, he served as the leader of the pro-Roh camp. He is also known for bringing Moon Jae-in into politics. In a Democratic Party with clear factional lines, he was a respected elder across factions.
He also drew controversy for the Democratic Party's "20-year rule" theory. In the early days of the Moon Jae-in administration in 2018, he put forward a "20-year rule" theory. In September 2020, at the reception for his memoir, then-KDB Industrial Bank Chairman Lee Dong-gull drew renewed attention with a toast saying, "Let's go! 20 years!"
He also served as head of the publishing house Dolbegae and ran a bookstore in Sillim-dong. He co-translated C. Wright Mills' The Sociological Imagination, regarded as a classic introduction and basic textbook in sociology.
"I began politics as an extension of the democracy movement. My goal was to build a democratic party. There are still things I worry about, but it seems to have made gradual progress over time. Now I can somewhat feel what DJ said. Life is beautiful, and history advances. In a movement, you may fail, but you do not despair. In politics, there are times when you do not achieve your goals as planned. What was not done, you can do again. It is not a failure."
- From Lee Hae-chan's memoir Dreams Gather and Become History