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Into the maelstrom: President
Roh
By Jaewoo Choo
SEOUL -
On Tuesday, Kim Dae-jung handed over the South Korean
presidency to Roh Moo-hyun, marking the end of the 7th
Republic or, as Kim labeled his administration five
years ago, the "People's Government". Some may find it
much more meaningful to see this as the conclusion of
the infamous "Two Kims' Era", the other Kim being Kim
Yong-sam, Kim Dae-jung's predecessor.
The two
Kims were infamous for their uncompromising and
unyielding pursuit of the presidency. The struggles
between themselves inevitably brought victory to the
third party's candidate for more than two decades, from
the 1970s until the early '90s, when Kim Yong-sam
finally defeated the other Kim.
What is ironic about
all three presidents of the post-Cold War era is that
they all assumed their leadership in one of the most
difficult times Korea had confronted. Kim Yong-sam was
caught in the middle of the first nuclear crisis that
began in the spring of 1993 and ended in dramatic
fashion in the summer of 1994 when Kim Il-sung died
after meeting with former US president Jimmy Carter. Kim
Dae-jung assumed the leadership in the middle of the
Asian financial crisis in 1997; the fate of the entire
nation was in his hands. Now it is Roh, who is
relatively unknown to the outside world and confronts
the second North Korean nuclear crisis, which surfaced
last October.
In the post-Cold War era, without
a clear-cut enemy, it was hoped that peace would become
the status quo. Who would have thought that rogue states
such as Iraq and North Korea could become the center of
such trouble and instability on a global scale? Who
would have guessed that a terrorist organization,
al-Qaeda, would again challenge the United States,
shattering the world's attempt to live in relative peace
and replacing it with a world dominated by a "war
against terrorism"?
In the middle of all this
international turmoil, Roh has to carry South Korea on
his back. All these international developments have
subsequently undermined the reasons for South Koreans to
celebrate the presidential victory on his inauguration
day. In addition, his induction to the presidential
residence, the Blue House, had to be conducted in a
solemn and restrained way, as the nation is still
mourning the deaths of some 120 people in the tragic
fire at a subway station in Daegu last week. In that
incident, all the significance and hope his victory once
had for the future of South Korean politics evaporated
(see Roh: New president for a new Korea,
December 24, 2002).
The tragic accident
paralleled the skepticism and concerns held by
conservative Koreans about Roh's leadership. Just like
those who failed to fulfill their responsibility to
evacuate the passengers from the station, they worry
that Roh may mishandle the North Korean nuclear crisis.
Despite the fact that the fire alarm went off
immediately after the fire broke out, those in the
monitoring room failed to notify the driver of the
train. After seeing the fire himself, the driver left
the train with the master key to the train door, leaving
the passengers locked inside. The incident in the
southeastern city of Daegu, the third-largest city in
South Korea, has served to fuel regionalism, a major
obstacle to the unity of the people and balanced
development of the nation. With Roh's election victory,
regionalism had seemed to on its way to fading out of
the Korean political scenery.
However, the city
of Daegu cannot fail to blame the number of tragedies
that it has faced since it failed to produce a national
leader for over a decade, the last being Roh Tae-woo of
the 6th Republic (1988-92), from the region. Since then,
its economy began to spiral down, beginning with Kim
Yong-sam's decision to plant Samsung Group's automobile
manufacturing site in Busan, his home town. In contrast,
however, Kim Dae-jung promised to revive Daegu's once
world-class textile industry by allocating 600 billion
won for the so-called Miliore Project. His words never
lived up to expectations, however, and the city's the
textile industry withered. In the midst of all this, a
natural-gas pipeline exploded in April 1995 in the
middle of downtown Daegu, leaving 101 dead and 202
injured. Now seven years later, another 120 have died of
a tragic accident. Through all these incidents, the
citizens of Daegu may develop a much stronger feeling
against the government, deepening the infamous
regionalism in Korean politics.
Now there is
growing concern about the way Roh may handle both
domestic and foreign affairs. In the eyes of the foreign
media, it seems only those of us living in South Korea
do not feel the sense of emergency from the current
North Korean nuclear crisis. The situation bewilders
many, including US President George W Bush, despite the
fact that the South's national image is in the greatest
jeopardy since 1987 when student demonstrations were at
their pinnacle. Foreign reports on daily demonstrations
that continued into June of 1988 had a great effect on
the question of South Korea's fitness to host the
imminent Summer Olympics in September.
Rising
anti-Americanism stemming from the acquittal of two US
soldiers of the death of two high-school girls last June
(see Vigils in Korea: US alliances on
trial, January 7) and Roh's perceived radical stance
on the issue as well as on the alliance relationship
with the United States are having an effect. Earlier
this month Moody's Investors Service slashed South
Korea's sovereign rating outlook from "positive" to
"negative" due to issues currently facing the peninsula,
it is alleged, including Roh's economic vision and
policy. His economic policy is especially of concern
because of his strong intention to reform the chaebol,
or industrial conglomerates. Although he recently
revealed in an interview that he did not intend to
target any specific company for personal reasons, no one
is buying that, at the moment at least.
Another
thing that Koreans felt great about during this past
presidential election in general and concerning Roh's
victory was the power of the Internet. It certainly
assisted his aim of conducting a clean and transparent
election in terms of financial support and spending. It
also functioned as a significant screening tool to bring
truth and fairness to South Korean politics. It also
proved to be an efficient rallying tool for his
campaign. He surely wants to continue to apply this tool
during his rule. In his selection of cabinet personnel,
for instance, Roh accepted open recommendations from the
entire nation via both Internet and offline
registrations. One of the drawbacks of such this
initiative is that those who have made it to the
finalist list are either relatively unknown to the
public, or viewed with much doubt about their
capability, not to mention their eligibility.
In
a recent interview, Roh, as if to attempt to reduce the
general public's concern, emphasized he would like the
head of each ministry to be reform-minded, but his
deputy to be an equalizer, implying those who are less
progressive and more stability-oriented. In theory, it
might work. However, in practice, especially with the
top leadership in active pursuit of reform, how much of
a stable effect a deputy can bring to policy
implementation remains to be seen. Conventional wisdom
may say there is no need to wait. But if Roh continues
to believe in the power of the Internet, his ears and
eyes will remain open and susceptible to the truths and
justice shown on his computer monitor.
As long
as he keeps the promises he made during his presidential
election campaign, Roh's toned-down message to seek
better cooperation with the United States will speak for
itself. If he continues to remain firm in his beliefs as
he showed during the course of campaign, he will come
out as a winner again in his economic policy. If he
adheres to his commitment to the principles on North
Korea he laid out during the campaign, Roh will succeed
in bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula (see Korean election: Candidates look
north, November 15, 2002).
For all these
rosy scenarios to be realized, however, President Roh
will have to leave his eyes and ears open to public,
unlike his predecessors, who left themselves vulnerable
to nepotism and cronyism. Roh must remember what got him
elected president: South Koreans want a president we can
honor when he retires. Without inspiring honor from his
constituency, his dream to build a government in which
"the general public is the president" will simply not be
possible.
Jaewoo Choo, PhD, is a
research fellow with the Trade Research Institute,
Seoul. The opinions expressed in this article are his
own.
(©2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All
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