Han’s time for ‘real study’ has come

Seo Seung-wook
The author is the director of political, international, foreign and security news at the JoongAng Ilbo.

“He is a political prosecutor who gave us a taste of hell and betrayed President Yoon Suk Yeol. He should no longer be in our party,” Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo said in his political platform, Dream of Youngsters.

“I will not betray the people, no matter what. Trying to correct the wrongs is not betrayal; It is courage,” wrote Han Dong-hoon, former interim leader of the governing People Power Party (PPP), on Facebook.

After the PPP’s crushing defeat in the April 10 parliamentary elections, party members exchange harsh attacks against one another. It is easy to see why the PPP suffered. The discord between the president and the former PPP leader over Yoon’s luncheon invitation looks quite awkward given their tight relationship as prosecutors in the past. Both are responsible for the election loss, but they seem to put the blame on the other.

Still, Han’s Facebook posting had something noteworthy. “I will take time to study and reflect,” he wrote. It was refreshing to see such a comment, as those two words —“study” and “reflect” — were invisible during his campaign. At that time, Han’s rhetoric was different. “I am over fifty. I don’t think I should go somewhere and study at this age. Rather, I think it’s time for me to serve the people with what I have prepared,” he said. But some people may have taken his remarks as evidence of overconfidence in his ability to do well in politics without making any effort to study.

Although gongbu — the word Han used to refer to “study” — is written with the same characters in Korea, China and Japan, it has different meanings in each country. In Korea, it means to learn and master. In China, it means a gap in time or leisure. In Japan, it means to think and come up with ideas. I hope Han will do all three versions.

First, he must “learn” politics. He must not become intoxicated with enthusiastic supporters, requests for photos and gifts of flowers. He should learn from the bitterness of having been ignored by office workers during his campaign in Yeouido, western Seoul. Politics is different from studying for the bar exam or going after criminals. It starts and ends with people. You have to build up your power by winning hearts.

The criticism that the PPP ran an election campaign centered on one single man, rather than a united team, is painful. We have not yet seen a united Han team, not to mention a PPP team. It was a drastic contrast to the party’s past leaders who made every effort to recruit the best talent before elections.

Han’s determination to stay away from drinking parties and keep his head lucid is admirable. But he must also seek wisdom from his political elders and colleagues. He must know that compliments like “You listen to others well” and “You are a brilliant person but act humble” outweigh comments like “You speak well” and “You are very intelligent.”

Before visiting former President Park Geun-hye last month, Han said, “As a politician, it is not strange to pay a visit to former presidents. I also plan to visit former President Lee Myung-bak.” But he could not meet with Lee. If Han had seriously thought about Lee’s position — since he’d investigated the former president during his time as prosecutor — he would likely have been more cautious.

The Japanese-style gongbu, in which one makes efforts to find ideas, is also important. The PPP’s slogans — zigzagging between urging voters to hand down judgements to former student activists and punishing opposition leaders Lee Jae-myung and Cho Kuk for their corruption — were criticized throughout the campaign. The outcome of the general election shows that attacking rivals without visions and brand is futile.

The Chinese-style gongbu, which means taking leisure time, is also important. Throughout the history of the conservative movement, beginning with the Grand National Party, leaders have rarely achieved their dreams after returning to politics prematurely. If people recommend that Han run in the chairmanship race, he must refuse. The PPP’s overwhelming defeat is too serious for Han to make an immediate comeback.

It is much harder to learn and practice good politics than it is to be pretentious. Han’s fate as a politician depends on whether he succeeds in these three kinds of gongbu.