The president must get off his high horse

Chung Un-chan
The author, a former prime minister and former president of Seoul National University, is the chairman of the Korea Institute for Shared Growth.

A friend living in the United States sent me an email on the day after the April 10 parliamentary elections. The friend wrote, “He reaped what he sowed,” blaming President Yoon Suk Yeol for the election results that delivered a devastating blow to the governing People Power Party (PPP). He didn’t approve of the winning party either, and asked why politics in Korea were so messed up.

The PPP’s crushing defeat in the election reflects voters’ stricter judgement on the incompetency and arrogance of the ruling front than all of the nomination abnormalities and ethical issues of the majority Democratic Party (DP). At first glance, voters seemed to take the immorality of politicians less seriously. But if you take a closer look, the election results show how frustrated and disgusted the people had been with the inept management of state affairs and self-complacent ways of the governing power. The voters rather preferred the opposition over the PPP despite the former’s lamentable ethical standards.

The president’s ego did not humble even after the landslide defeat of his party. He commented on the election results during a cabinet meeting instead of holding a press conference to apologize for the party’s humiliating loss. The president’s remarks didn’t come across as a sincere apology, either. People were just embarrassed by the president’s insistence on the right direction of his governance while blaming the people’s ignorance. As a result, Yoon’s aides had to explain and justify the sincerity of their boss.

What really made the president so unlikable? It’s because he failed to read the minds of the people. The president should be listening to them, not lecturing them. To do so, he should have come off his high horse and paid close attention to what people thought. Through what he has learned from the masses, he must direct policies to better the lives of the people. He must demonstrate the leadership of persuading people who do not agree with him to walk in the same direction. In state management, the process can be more important than the results.

A poll showed that soaring prices, in particular, played a major part in the election. People’s livelihoods are battered while society is deeply polarized. Luxury stores are packed with rich people whereas the street shops are wrecked. Business has still not recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic. The government cannot go on blaming the pandemic for the slump. It must change its economic policy direction.

President Yoon emphasized business-friendly policy during his campaign period. He contended that the government’s primary role is to remove the stumbling blocks to free business activities. He is right. But unfortunately, his policies such as the corporate tax cut only benefited rich companies and individuals. In the meantime, the lives of a majority of the people simply stagnated or worsened.

On his celebrated essay “On Liberty,” John Stuart Mill underscored the importance of maintaining social solidarity even while allowing people to pursue their own development. To do so, the government must narrow the gap in power between the economically powerful and not. The government must ensure the economically strong respect the weak so that each can carry on with the activities of their wishes. Technology theft and exploitation of suppliers by large companies, for instance, constitute an act of serious infringement on the liberties of their contractors by stealing their rightful rewards to their labor.

Legislation is a preventive measure to improve the power equilibrium between the strong and the weak. Then there is a remedial action through adjustment in reward distribution. Such preventive actions by the government can hardly be taken since the legislature is controlled by the majority opposition. The president therefore must try to correct the imbalances whenever they arise during the remainder of his term since he cannot rely on legislative help. The work is much harder, but he has no other choice. Otherwise, he will have to confront even stronger resistance from the public.

The president must execute sweeping reforms in his human pool for governance in a more creative manner. The presidential office and cabinet formation was overly biased. The bulk of the senior posts are from Seoul National University and the prosecution. They mostly come from Seoul or Yeongnam — the traditional conservative base — and are men in their 60s. To revitalize the Korean economy, creative talents should be recruited. The president must respect diversity. It may not be a sufficient condition for creativity, but at least it could stimulate creativity in the government.

The president’s unilateral governance also led to the ongoing conflict with the medical community. The government is infringing on the sovereignty of universities when it sets admissions quota for medical schools across the country. Universities should have the liberty to choose how many students it wishes to accept. For more creative governance, it could be even better for the government to re-examine the medical school quota from the start.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.