Where are the straight talkers to the president?

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Where are the straight talkers to the president?



Kim Dong-ho
The author is the economic news editor of the JoogAng Ilbo.

The governing People Power Party (PPP) has resorted to populism as the April midterm parliamentary election comes closer. The minority party proposed a plan to merge Gimpo City, Gyeonggi, into Seoul and a temporary ban on short selling in the stock market. In reaction, the opposition Democratic Party (DP) has leveraged its majority position in the National Assembly to toughen its offensives. It pushed motions to impeach prosecutors who have been investigating its party leader Lee Jae-myung, and railroaded controversial bills aimed at facilitating workers’ strikes and weakening government influence over public broadcasters.

That’s not all. The majority opposition also submitted a bill designed to impose a “windfall tax” on banks for their “excess profits” in the high-interest environment. The conservative PPP’s flapping moves are dwarfed by the massive counteroffensives from the DP holding 168 seats in the 300-member legislature. Put simply, populist moves are in full swing in both parties.

While the country’s chronic third-rate politics are at full play, the economy sinks further into a slump with the growth potential rate falling to the one percent range. The National Assembly does not care for the health of the economy. While the revision to the Labor Act, which will certainly end up deepening labor unrest, was passing through the legislature, 116 other bills critical to revitalize public livelihoods, corporate activities and economic innovation were gathering dust. There is no one to keep the house even as a burglar leisurely roams around to steal. It is truly a sad sight.

But the government is of little help. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has been repeatedly advised to find competent people from a broad talent pool before it trots out policies. Yet it continued recruiting figures from a certain background and connections. Officials who had served in the former conservative Lee Myung-bak administration keep arriving through the revolving door, and many of them had controversial pasts. The PPP’s crushing defeat in the recent by-election in Seoul reflects the deepening public disgruntlement about the government.

While seeking to reshuffle the presidential office and administration ahead of the next parliamentary election, President Yoon reportedly said he would not mind working with people he did not know. Though he may be open to the idea of enlarging the human resource pool, it will be better if he accepts those who could be straight with him and look beyond the conservative front. President Yoon is said to be studying the leadership of the late president Park Chung Hee, who spearheaded the country’s industrialization. Park is more remembered as a strongman, but he was open to critical comments. His prime minister Nam Duck-woo (1924-2013) was an outspoken critic of economic policies of the military regime while as a professor before he was recruited by Park as his finance minister in 1969.

When he stood before Park to receive his appointment certificate, the president told him he should brace up since it was now the professor’s turn to come under criticism while managing economic policies. A capable president should employ critics of government policies. Nam did not come from the three top universities either. To hear diverse voices, however, a head of state must use the devil’s advocate if necessary. When the leader keeps only the people he is used to and who share his views or ideology, his government would be no different from the past liberal administration under Moon Jae-in, which adhered to the novel income-led growth policy.

When his nominees came under criticism, President Yoon wholeheartedly praised them for their qualifications as government ministers. Their credentials may look glamorous. But none of them would speak frankly to the president as the former finance minister and deputy prime minister for the economy had done to his boss.

President Yoon cannot respond to and fight the challenges ahead if he only keeps complacent bureaucrats around him. Yoon’s much-hyped promises to reform the labor, pension, and education sectors have progressed little, although his term enters the third year in 2024. His approval rating is also stuck in the mid-30 percent range. To counter the third-rate politics and revitalize the economy, President Yoon needs more straight-talking aides.

Nam did not save criticism. “Politics have never degraded so deeply, and the economy has never been stuck in a slump from low growth and fast aging. If the prime minister were alive today, what solution could he prescribe? We miss a wise government minister at hard times like these,” according to an excerpt from a book commemorating Nam on the 10th year since his death. Third-rate politics are not in sync with Korea’s dignity today. Both the PPP and the DP engage in a live-or-die contest because they either get all the power or lose everything from the outcome of the presidential election held every five years.

To overcome the chaos today, the president must have critical voices at his side. Like-minded people only can deepen the bias and interfere with the balanced decision-making. Persuading the opposition as well as winning the practical centrists would be difficult. Before working on policies, the president needs to engage people broadly to gain traction to his leadership and steer the economy out of the storm.
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