今年5月，韩国总统金大中的两个儿子因涉嫌受贿而遭指控，在韩国朝野乃至世界范围内引起轩然大波，也给这位以清廉形象当选、并誓言整顿韩国吏治的领导人带来了诸多麻烦。虽然他的支持者与反对者意见大相径庭，但大家公认的是，能够引领国家前进的总统就是称职的总统。

　　Individuals make up history, while history governs individuals' actions and thoughts.

　　This simple observation may be the biggest consolation to President Kim Dae-jung, who is distressed by the imprisonment of two of his three sons and the political challenges he nowadays seems to face at every turn on the final span of his presidency.<注1>

　　Kim is forced to perform two conflicting roles. On the one hand, he is a concerned father seeing his second son, and the youngest, jailed on influence-peddling charges.<注2>

　　The 77-year-old president recently gave an emotional account of his inner feelings, saying that never in his life has he felt as distressed as now. He told asgroupsof reporters that he didn't feel this low<注3> even at the height of his struggle against dictatorships.

　　The second role he is playing is that of responsible leader.

　　The winner of the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to inter-Korean detente, Kim is resisting all calls to step back from the frontline of politics.<注4>

　　He has vowed to do his duty as the top manager of state affairs until the last day of his mandate<注5> in February next year.

　　On the other hand, with the presidential election due in December, Lee Hoi-chang, the standard bearer of the Grand National Party, is attacking Kim for his low standard of morality, citing his sons' graft charges, while Roh Moo-hyun, the presidential candidate of the Millennium Democratic Party, which Kim founded but severed ties with, is trying to dissociate himself from Kim's legacy.<注6>

　　Therefore Kim's public approval rating has suffered. His "Sunshine Policy"<注7> is in danger of slidingsintosoblivion. It is not hard to imagine what Kim is mentally going through. Perhaps, he may be regrettingshavingsentered politics or be worrying about how history will see him, when he is not around<注8> .

　　Right now, his reputation is so tarnished that he is probably tempted to believe that history will judge him more fairly in 10 or 20 years than his contemporaries.<注9>

　　In a sense, however, he may as well have more audacity to demand that his contemporaries give a fairer judgment of his presidency.

　　For instance, the mass media has lamented the unhappy repetition of history in connection with the imprisonment of Kim's two sons. Kim Young-sam, his predecessor, also saw his favorite son, Hyun-chol, jailed.<注10>

　　A closer look at the charges facing Hong-up and Hong-gul and those that led Hyun-chol behind bars will tell the difference.

　　Investigations have so far failed to show that the two brothers meddled<注11> in state affairs, while Hyun-chol was often called "the second man" in charge behind his father.

　　It could, in a sense, be not the repetition of history but an improvement, if the cases are used to forewarn the offspring of presidents-to-be of the consequences they will face for their misbehavior.<注12>

　　The two Kims differ in their behavior after their beloved sons were thrownsintosjail. President Kim is determined to stay in control, while Kim Young-sam lost his will to govern, sending the country adriftsintosa financial crisis, according to his former aides.

　　While some people say, in defense of Kim Young-sam, it is fair to acknowledge his right to assert what good he did as the first civilian president after three heads of state who were army generals.<注13>

　　This comparison between the two Kims would lose its validity, if President Kim used it in his defense. The public wouldn't tolerate it.<注14>

　　In truth, it would be put to best use if President Kim hides it in a deep corner of his heart and takes more sincere and feasible measures to push this nation forward. It's what really counts<注15>.