Say goodbye to personal connections, Mr. President

Lee ha-kyung
The author is a senior columnist of the JoongAng Ilbo.

President Yoon Seok Yeol has a strong conviction in his own way. This is understandable, given his hard battle as a prosecutor against the powers that be and his election as the president just one year after leaving the prosecution. However, his People Power Party (PPP)’s crushing defeat in a Seoul by-election in October and his government’s failed bid for the 2030 World Expo shattered the myth of his invincibility. Only the president did not know the apparent loss all other people had predicted. He became a naked king who lacked communication.

One may think he would have changed by now. But his unique style of running the country remains the same. He nominated Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Chairman Kim Hong-il, his former senior prosecutor, as head of the mighty Korea Communications Commission. The president adheres to appointing people who studied at the same school or worked together rather than based on their expertise. If his talent pool shrinks and weakens the country’s competitiveness, who can make up for the loss?

The risk associated with first lady Kim Keon-hee is also a problem. She reportedly received a luxurious handbag from a pastor from her hometown after Yoon took office. The pastor said he had offered to give her a gift five times in return for his face-to-face meeting with her — and he could meet her twice after promising to give luxurious goods to her.

Upon returning home from his state visit to the Netherlands last week, President Yoon Suk Yeol is greeted by top government officials and People Power Party lawmakers, including the party’s floor leader and interim head Rep. Yun Jae-ok, who bows to the president at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, on Friday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The pastor said he had overheard Kim’s phone call in which she was receiving a request from outside to influence the recruitment for the Financial Services Commission. What really happened to her pledge to “devote myself to my role as the president’s wife?”

All the chaos in the government and the PPP — as exemplified by the party’s move to establish an emergency committee for the third time within 18 months of his presidency — basically results from a lack of his political career. In retrospect, Yoon should have asked himself before running for president if he could really handle the job. If he had done so, he would have had many sleepless nights wondering if he was a good fit for the job. If he had used the power of that reflection to lower himself and listen to other people even after being elected president, he could certainly have avoided this crisis.

Today, the people’s sentiment is everything that matters. But the Yoon administration is at odds with it. The majority Democratic Party (DP) threatens to pass a bill to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the suspected stock price manipulation by the first lady. Ahead of the voting on Dec. 18, the first lady’s scandal of having received the luxurious handbag in return for her meeting with the pastor broke out. 70 percent of the people are opposed to the president exercising his veto power on the investigation into his wife. If the president vetoes the probe, he will have to fight against the people to protect his family. And if the president avoids taking action, the upcoming parliamentary election on April 10 will be swallowed by the first lady issues.

Even in this situation, members of the PPP are only watching the president because of the political structure where the president decides everything. Rep. Yun Jae-ok, acting leader of the governing party, made a 90-degree bow to the president at the airport last week after he returned home from a trip overseas. The party appeared to be stuck in the days of despotic monarchy. How will the general public perceive that?

In the meantime, sycophants are engrossed in a loyalty contest for the president. But when the twilight of power arrives, they will most likely betray their boss. This is the law of power, already proven by the impeachment of former president Park Geun-hye.

If you want to know a person’s true color, you can award him or her with power. The more power one has, the more dopamine is released. The leader will doubt less about his legitimacy. Unless you stay alerted and restrained, you can easily become a monster without knowing.

Still, there is time for a turnaround. President Yoon is selfless, and his policies are generally on the right track. Moreover, the DP is far away from the people’s livelihood as it turned into a bulletproof shield for its controversial leader, Lee Jae-myung, and his party’s railroading of unreasonable bills. The president must admit to his immaturity and shortcomings and be humble before it is too late. There is a complex and contradictory area in which a prosecutor’s black-or-white judgment alone cannot embrace. The president must realize that more truth is in the gray area whose boundaries are blurry.

If the president understands this, he won’t be able to appoint his close friends and allies to top posts over and over. Critics who have the wisdom and experience the president does not have should be respected. Then, everyone will support the president. The president must recruit talented people to key posts, regardless of their past or personal connections. That is the way to a successful government and a successful president.