Looking forward to new political leadership

Kim Ho-ki
The author is a sociology professor at Yonsei University.

Democracy is embraced as the world’s dominant political regime because it can ensure individual freedom, equality, peace and prosperity better than other political systems, wrote American political scientist Robert Dahl in “On Democracy,” a textbook on the modern democratic system. Where does Korean democracy stand?

About two years ago, I co-authored “South Korea’s Democracy in Crisis: The Threats of Illiberalism, Populism, and Polarization” with Shin Gi-wook, the director of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University. Illiberalism here refers to anti-pluralism, while populism means demagoguery. On the theme of polarization, we mostly centered on economic and political extremities. By the summer of 2022, Korean democracy was crossing the critical point.

Has the situation improved since that time? Sadly, democracy has retreated over the past two years. Illiberalism and populism have evolved into the politics of fandom, abhorrence and hate. Polarization has stretched its horizon beyond politics to push sentiments and emotions to the extreme. One more threat has been added to the Korean democracy in crisis — the leadership crisis.

In his 2011 book “Statecraft,” Yoon Yeo-joon, a journalist-turned-politician, emphasized leadership’s role in our society. He argued that the leader’s art of maneuvering state affairs and mastery over work would define the country’s future. Statecraft encompasses the ability to uphold Constitution-based state systems, connect with people for social unity, design and act out right policies on domestic and external affairs and handle various political forces and figures.

I agree that political leadership played a major role in shaping Korea’s modern history. Strong leadership was essential to chase industrialization and democracy. Park Chung Hee, Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun can be categorized as leaders with that leadership. The three were not flawless. Still, Park undeniably achieved industrialization for the country, while Kim set the foundation for a welfare state and Roh for regional balance.

But unfortunately, no presidents since the three have contributed to a meaningful advance for the country.

Leadership alone cannot be highlighted, as politics run on the interaction of leadership and a system. But clearly, a leader’s ability is the core determinant of national progress. Italian Renaissance statesman and philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli stressed the combination of a fox’s cunningness and a lion’s strength for a leader. Max Weber underscored the need for three eminent qualities — passion, a feeling of responsibility and a sense of proportion — in a true political leader. The qualities can translated into administrative and political capabilities in today’s context. While the former means an ability to finely design policies and effectively execute them, the latter signifies a capability to alleviate confrontations on social issues to reach a consensus.

Political leadership has evolved in Korea, too. Military strongmen led the industrialization period, followed by dissidents-turned-leaders during the transition to democracy. After democracy matured, leadership diversified from entrepreneurs to law practitioners. Regrettably, however, the transition was marked by political leaders’ tendency to regard the people as the target for political mobilization, which critically weakened their trust in political leaders. The leadership deficit has become a new symptom of Korean democracy in crisis.

Today’s leadership is being tested under a totally different environment from the past. In demand are the intelligence to map out policies to effectively respond to unfettered innovations in the new science and technology revolution and communicative skills to counter anarchic forces in the information society. Today’s leaders don’t need to be an entrepreneur, law practitioner or democracy fighter. People have learned it from experience. Statesmen, regardless of their backgrounds, must be able to define the zeitgeist of a post-industrialization and democratization country. They must be able to articulate the vision to navigate the country against the rapid changes on international and technological fronts and toward the path where the benefits of growth can be shared by all.

The political clock is ticking towards the future power since the April 10 parliamentary elections. A new type of leadership is desperately needed to steer a democracy in crisis toward prosperity. In his famous essay titled “Politics as a Vocation,” Weber emphasized the importance of respecting the call of the times. I may not be the only one who is waiting for a leader with conviction and responsibility.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.