[Column] Back to the drawing board

Chung Un-chan

The author, a former prime minister, is the chairman of the Korea Institute for Shared Growth.

The Year of the Tiger is giving way to the Year of the Rabbit. Seven months have passed since the launch of the conservative Yoon Suk-yeol administration after a neck-and-neck presidential race. But the fledgling government struggled with a plethora of challenges from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, global inflation, drastic hikes in U.S. interest rates, uninterrupted missiles launches by North Korea and the deadly crowd crush in Itaewon. The Yoon administration will most likely have to deal with even tougher challenges at home and abroad next year.

U.S. isolationism has been reinforced by Joe Biden’s administration. His declaration of “America is back” was welcomed by the rest of the word, but it became clear that the catchphrase was only a new form of nationalism, as evidenced by his signing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Biden’s economic and diplomatic policies, deliberately wrapped in values and causes, pose even tougher challenges to South Korea than Donald Trump’s rough and brazen policies.

Where the neo-Cold War starting from the U.S.-China decoupling will be headed is also uncertain. But clearly, it will force South Korea to choose between America and China. Security risks on the Korean Peninsula could lead to catastrophe in a worst case. If a new Cold War regime settles on the peninsula and elevates our security risks further, it will have a devastating impact on us. We desperately need wisdom to safeguard the nation from internal and external threats.

Yet our political circles are at war. The governing People Power Party (PPP) and the Democratic Party (DP) look like two trains on a collision course. There is no room for negotiation or compromise. Political cooperation disappeared long ago. The crisis of our democracy has reached a critical point. The two major parties are nearly privatized. At the center of the political crisis is President Yoon. A head of state must take the lead in canvassing, converging and addressing a conflict of interest among stakeholders. The president must continue to talk with the National Assembly dominated by the super-majority opposition for dialogue and compromise. Yoon must not fall victim to the mantra that history will appreciate him after five years, a major trap of the single five-year presidential term.

The world faces a great turning point from climate change, the arrival of the fourth industrial revolution, and the breakup of communities from deepening polarization. It is hard to tell whether the turning point will lead to continuous development or a precipitous decline. There were always individuals or countries who lagged behind in dramatic political, economic and social transitions. Could our politics and society weather that without getting support from the mega-party?

How will the president draw cooperation from the DP and the people? First, he must share power. In Korea, it is difficult for the leader to share power with other political forces due to the five-year single presidency and overly centralized power distorting popular sovereignty and co-governance. Yoon must put an end to such a sclerotic and monopolistic structure of power. The time has come to start discussions on how to change the winner-take-all election law and the overly contentious two-party system.

Second, the president must change the way he operates, including personnel affairs. By drastically revamping the presidential office and the government, he could send a strong message about innovation. That’s the minimum requirement for the president to recover public confidence. He also must improve the quality of the governing party. If the PPP is led by some of his allies, the party will never improve.

Third, the president must change his philosophy on economic policy. His administration shows the contradiction of championing a market economy outwardly while intervening in the market internally. All governments meddle in the market. But that intervention should be fair and transparent, and the means for intervention open and justifiable.

Only when the president shifts his paradigm for running the economy to balanced growth can he turn crisis into opportunity. Behind polarization and social conflict are bad legacies of the past, such as a rapid and compressed growth and unbalanced economic development. The government must place top priority on symbiotic growth in which large and small companies, export and domestic companies, and producers and consumers can prosper together. Polarization is a fatal virus.

Politics is about caring for people and solving their problems. The age-old conundrum cannot be solved by fairness and common sense alone, as Yoon has believed. It’s time to start over.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.