A new president, and the weight of words
Published: 04 Jun. 2025, 05:00
Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI
The author is the editor-in-chief at the JoongAng Sunday.
There once was a speech that its own author believed would neither be noticed nor remembered. Delivered in just two minutes on the fields of Gettysburg, it began with a reference to a founding promise — “Four score and seven years ago” — and ended with the enduring commitment to “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
The speaker, Abraham Lincoln, offered those words in the shadow of a much longer oration delivered just before him. That speaker later admitted he would have preferred to say as much in two minutes. One newspaper, the Chicago Times, dismissed Lincoln’s words as “silly remarks deserving a veil of oblivion.” But history had a different judgment.
![This undated illustration depicts President Abraham Lincoln making his Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery on the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Nov. 19, 1863. Library of Congress via AP. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/04/3067ca76-68c3-4654-94ca-1610f250f5f7.jpg)
This undated illustration depicts President Abraham Lincoln making his Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery on the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Nov. 19, 1863. Library of Congress via AP. [AP/YONHAP]
Korea, too, has produced its share of well-crafted speeches, though not all have fulfilled their promise. One that stands out is former President Moon Jae-in’s 2017 inaugural address, delivered after the impeachment of his predecessor and a bruising national crisis.
Its best-known line — “Opportunities will be equal. The process will be fair. The result will be just.” — was widely quoted. Yet the address held other powerful declarations: “My head is full of blueprints for opening a new era of coexistence and unity.” “From today, I will be the president of all the people.” “Conflict between conservatives and liberals must end. The president will lead the dialogue. The opposition is a partner in governance.”
Such words reflected the demands of the time. But Moon’s presidency failed to live up to that language. Elected in the wake of national division, he governed in ways that often deepened it. Those who opposed him were treated not as fellow citizens, but as obstacles. Though his words called for unity, his actions were partisan. The result was an administration remembered more for its rhetoric than its reconciliation.
Politics is built on words, but it cannot run on words alone. As Ted Sorensen, the speechwriter for John F. Kennedy, once observed: “No matter how eloquent, a speech is just a speech. Without action, the finest phrases are hollow.” He continued, “A speech becomes great not because of its language but because of the ideas, principles, and resolve it conveys. If the ideas are great, the speech can be plain. But if the ideas are empty, even the most majestic language cannot save them.”
By that measure, Lincoln’s speech endures as greatness. Moon’s, for many, did not.
![Then-President Moon Jae-in presides over his first cabinet meeting at the Blue House on June 27, 2017, 48 days after taking office. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/06/04/724b1cc7-9b8d-4594-894c-add72a4e47e8.jpg)
Then-President Moon Jae-in presides over his first cabinet meeting at the Blue House on June 27, 2017, 48 days after taking office. [YONHAP]
To be sure, this is no easy task. Even well-intentioned presidents have found themselves changed by the contradictions of office. As former President Roh Moo-hyun once said, the presidency is a “dangerous job” that requires pursuing goals amid complex power struggles, layered conflicts and structural contradictions. The president is both a player in the power game and a representative of national unity.
Despite those tensions, one hopes this president will be different. Not necessarily by saying more, or louder, but simply by doing what is said.
If this new leader can match action to word, Korea, too, may one day look back and say: That was a great speech — not for how it sounded, but for what it meant.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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