If South Korean parliamentary elections were to be held tomorrow instead of April 13, the party of President Kim Dae Jung would suffer a rude defeat, according to opinion polls.
The chief casualties of such a loss would be the president's economic-reform program, which has brought the country out of the Asian financial crisis, producing a 9 percent growth rate last year, and Kim himself, who would become a lame-duck leader until his mandated single term ends in 2003.
Kim's "sunshine policy" of encouragement toward North Korea might be harmed, as would his candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is based on his long prodemocracy record.