And a little piece on South Korea here ( have a good night JS !)
Into the maelstrom: President Roh
By Jaewoo Choo
SEOUL - On Tuesday, Kim Dae-jung handed over the South Korean presidency to Roh Moo-hyun, marking the end of the 7th Republic or, as Kim labeled his administration five years ago, the "People's Government". Some may find it much more meaningful to see this as the conclusion of the infamous "Two Kims' Era", the other Kim being Kim Yong-sam, Kim Dae-jung's predecessor.
The two Kims were infamous for their uncompromising and unyielding pursuit of the presidency. The struggles between themselves inevitably brought victory to the third party's candidate for more than two decades, from the 1970s until the early '90s, when Kim Yong-sam finally defeated the other Kim.
What is ironic about all three presidents of the post-Cold War era is that they all assumed their leadership in one of the most difficult times Korea had confronted. Kim Yong-sam was caught in the middle of the first nuclear crisis that began in the spring of 1993 and ended in dramatic fashion in the summer of 1994 when Kim Il-sung died after meeting with former US president Jimmy Carter. Kim Dae-jung assumed the leadership in the middle of the Asian financial crisis in 1997; the fate of the entire nation was in his hands. Now it is Roh, who is relatively unknown to the outside world and confronts the second North Korean nuclear crisis, which surfaced last October.
In the post-Cold War era, without a clear-cut enemy, it was hoped that peace would become the status quo. Who would have thought that rogue states such as Iraq and North Korea could become the center of such trouble and instability on a global scale? Who would have guessed that a terrorist organization, al-Qaeda, would again challenge the United States, shattering the world's attempt to live in relative peace and replacing it with a world dominated by a "war against terrorism"?
In the middle of all this international turmoil, Roh has to carry South Korea on his back. All these international developments have subsequently undermined the reasons for South Koreans to celebrate the presidential victory on his inauguration day. In addition, his induction to the presidential residence, the Blue House, had to be conducted in a solemn and restrained way, as the nation is still mourning the deaths of some 120 people in the tragic fire at a subway station in Daegu last week. In that incident, all the significance and hope his victory once had for the future of South Korean politics evaporated (see Roh: New president for a new Korea, December 24, 2002).
The tragic accident paralleled the skepticism and concerns held by conservative Koreans about Roh's leadership. Just like those who failed to fulfill their responsibility to evacuate the passengers from the station, they worry that Roh may mishandle the North Korean nuclear crisis. Despite the fact that the fire alarm went off immediately after the fire broke out, those in the monitoring room failed to notify the driver of the train. After seeing the fire himself, the driver left the train with the master key to the train door, leaving the passengers locked inside. The incident in the southeastern city of Daegu, the third-largest city in South Korea, has served to fuel regionalism, a major obstacle to the unity of the people and balanced development of the nation. With Roh's election victory, regionalism had seemed to on its way to fading out of the Korean political scenery.
However, the city of Daegu cannot fail to blame the number of tragedies that it has faced since it failed to produce a national leader for over a decade, the last being Roh Tae-woo of the 6th Republic (1988-92), from the region. Since then, its economy began to spiral down, beginning with Kim Yong-sam's decision to plant Samsung Group's automobile manufacturing site in Busan, his home town. In contrast, however, Kim Dae-jung promised to revive Daegu's once world-class textile industry by allocating 600 billion won for the so-called Miliore Project. His words never lived up to expectations, however, and the city's the textile industry withered. In the midst of all this, a natural-gas pipeline exploded in April 1995 in the middle of downtown Daegu, leaving 101 dead and 202 injured. Now seven years later, another 120 have died of a tragic accident. Through all these incidents, the citizens of Daegu may develop a much stronger feeling against the government, deepening the infamous regionalism in Korean politics.
Now there is growing concern about the way Roh may handle both domestic and foreign affairs. In the eyes of the foreign media, it seems only those of us living in South Korea do not feel the sense of emergency from the current North Korean nuclear crisis. The situation bewilders many, including US President George W Bush, despite the fact that the South's national image is in the greatest jeopardy since 1987 when student demonstrations were at their pinnacle. Foreign reports on daily demonstrations that continued into June of 1988 had a great effect on the question of South Korea's fitness to host the imminent Summer Olympics in September.
Rising anti-Americanism stemming from the acquittal of two US soldiers of the death of two high-school girls last June (see Vigils in Korea: US alliances on trial, January 7) and Roh's perceived radical stance on the issue as well as on the alliance relationship with the United States are having an effect. Earlier this month Moody's Investors Service slashed South Korea's sovereign rating outlook from "positive" to "negative" due to issues currently facing the peninsula, it is alleged, including Roh's economic vision and policy. His economic policy is especially of concern because of his strong intention to reform the chaebol, or industrial conglomerates. Although he recently revealed in an interview that he did not intend to target any specific company for personal reasons, no one is buying that, at the moment at least.
Another thing that Koreans felt great about during this past presidential election in general and concerning Roh's victory was the power of the Internet. It certainly assisted his aim of conducting a clean and transparent election in terms of financial support and spending. It also functioned as a significant screening tool to bring truth and fairness to South Korean politics. It also proved to be an efficient rallying tool for his campaign. He surely wants to continue to apply this tool during his rule. In his selection of cabinet personnel, for instance, Roh accepted open recommendations from the entire nation via both Internet and offline registrations. One of the drawbacks of such this initiative is that those who have made it to the finalist list are either relatively unknown to the public, or viewed with much doubt about their capability, not to mention their eligibility.
In a recent interview, Roh, as if to attempt to reduce the general public's concern, emphasized he would like the head of each ministry to be reform-minded, but his deputy to be an equalizer, implying those who are less progressive and more stability-oriented. In theory, it might work. However, in practice, especially with the top leadership in active pursuit of reform, how much of a stable effect a deputy can bring to policy implementation remains to be seen. Conventional wisdom may say there is no need to wait. But if Roh continues to believe in the power of the Internet, his ears and eyes will remain open and susceptible to the truths and justice shown on his computer monitor.
As long as he keeps the promises he made during his presidential election campaign, Roh's toned-down message to seek better cooperation with the United States will speak for itself. If he continues to remain firm in his beliefs as he showed during the course of campaign, he will come out as a winner again in his economic policy. If he adheres to his commitment to the principles on North Korea he laid out during the campaign, Roh will succeed in bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula (see Korean election: Candidates look north, November 15, 2002).
For all these rosy scenarios to be realized, however, President Roh will have to leave his eyes and ears open to public, unlike his predecessors, who left themselves vulnerable to nepotism and cronyism. Roh must remember what got him elected president: South Koreans want a president we can honor when he retires. Without inspiring honor from his constituency, his dream to build a government in which "the general public is the president" will simply not be possible.
Jaewoo Choo, PhD, is a research fellow with the Trade Research Institute, Seoul. The opinions expressed in this article are his own. |
