When will the presidential risk end?

Choi Hoon
The author is the chief editor of the JoongAng Ilbo.

All the answers to political issues can be found in the direction of public sentiment. The controversies over the return of Lee Jong-sup, current ambassador to Australia and former defense minister, who left Korea amid suspicions over his alleged role in the military investigation of the death of a Marine on a rescue mission, and Hwang Sang-moo, a senior presidential secretary who made intimidating remarks towards journalists, delivered major upsets for the ruling front in the run-up to the April 10 parliamentary elections.

Although the presidential office hurriedly accepted Hwang’s resignation and endorsed Lee’s return, the move came too late to turn the tide, given the dipping popularity of the People Power Party (PPP) in the capital region. The resurface of a rivalry between President Yoon Suk Yeol and PPP interim leader Han Dong-hoon has again turned the election battle into one between the president and the majority Democratic Party (DP).

President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, asks Lee Jong-sup, then defense minister and current ambassador to Australia, about a joint shelling drill by the Army and Air Force in Pocheon, Gyeonggi, on Jun. 15, 2023. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

PPP candidates facing an uphill battle in three Seoul districts and two Gyeonggi constituencies complained of the risks from the presidential office worsening their odds in the race. All the voters they meet question if the governing front is any better than DP leader Lee Jae-myung, who drew criticism for his arbitrary nominations of opposition candidates. They cannot understand why the presidential office decided to send former defense minister Lee Jong-sup to Canberra as an envoy without finding out if he really exercised pressure on the Marine Corps’ investigation of the death of a young soldier. They worry how reckless the PPP can be if it becomes a majority in the legislature on top of the executive power. They find the presidential office confined to the prison of arrogance. “I’ve been even skipping a meal as I am up against my rival with a gap of 3 percent or 1,000 votes. But what use is my own efforts when the support rating for the PPP in the capital region plummeted by 15 percent over a week?” growled a PPP candidate in a Gyeonggi constituency.

“Conservative voters are more disgruntled with the presidential office,” another PPP candidate in a Seoul district said, adding that they cannot understand why the presidential office is making matters worse at critical moments. Those keeping up with political news are more suspicious over the former defense minister’s affair than otherwise. They think the presidential office could be hiding something, as it sent a suspect to serve in an overseas mission. No matter how the ambassador explained about the dilly-dallying by the Corruption Investigation Office on High-ranking Officials (CIO), voters only find fault with the presidential office, the PPP candidate said.

Another candidate for a Seoul district fears the buildup of public sentiment towards punishing the conservative government for its arrogance. “The opposition front has suddenly become energetic. The DP and splinter left-wing Jinbo Party candidates are collaborating to campaign against the PPP,” he complained. Given the domineering ways of the presidential office, voters now suspect the government may have arbitrarily investigated former justice minister Cho Kuk, who has launched his own party despite two guilty verdicts in lower courts. “Just look at the surprising rise in his party’s approval rating,” he said.

A PPP candidate running in a district in Gyeonggi worried about the impact of the Yoon-Han conflict on centrist voters. “Centrists would have thought that they could have some hope for the PPP if the self-indulgent president at least paid heed to frank words from Han, and yet we now have this row just weeks ahead of the election,” he moaned. “It would be best if the president does not do anything at this stage,” he said, pointing to the farce of the president holding a bundle of green onion priced at 875 won (65 cents) and saying the price should be “rational” even when it is sold at five times the price in the market.

Another candidate for a Seoul district pointed to the incommunicative president who steadfastly holds onto the 2,000 annual increase in the enrollment quota for medical schools. “Due to the stigma of the president being stubborn and domineering, some now think the presidential office is bulldozing its way to lift the enrollment quota by 2,000. Once senior doctors join the walkout by trainee doctors to cause a complete standstill in general hospitals, people would entirely put the blame on the government,” he said.

Regardless of the election outcome, the president is still responsible for state governance for three more years. Before the blow to the campaign in the capital region, the presidential office insisted that the allegation against the ambassador was a political vendetta by the CIO, the DP and pro-DP media outlets. On Hwang’s controversial remarks, it just stressed the principle of leadership and appreciation of freedom of the press.

The presidential office’s weeklong stalling wreaked havoc on the campaign field. The fallout owes much to a critical dearth of understanding of the public sentiment. Empathy refers to the ability to share and understand the feelings of others from their perspective and to act based on the understanding. But the presidential office has been selective and internalized in understanding others.

That helps explain why the inner communication mechanism in the presidential office is being questioned. Even if it can invite anger from the president, the senior staff must be able to speak honestly. It is the duty of presidential aides. Who in the Office of National Security pushed for Lee’s appointment as an envoy to Australia? Who really defended Hwang despite his spiteful remarks? As John F. Kennedy famously said, “Victory has 100 fathers and defeat is an orphan,” Yoon alone stands in the battlefield for every controversy.

James Baker, who served as chief of staff to presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, said that the chief of staff must say “No” to the president when needed, and play the role as a gatekeeper to prevent bad results. In his eulogy at Reagan’s funeral, he lauded his former boss’s big heart for taking him as his chief of staff even though he had served in campaigns against Reagan twice. Baker said he was able to work hard every day for eight years because of his bigheartedness. I hope the president changes first.

The presidential office’s weeklong stalling wreaked havoc on the campaign field.