Published: January 30, 2006
Road To Recovery, Politics in South Korea
By P. Kharel
Gradually, South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun has recovered some of the political ground he had lost this time last year when his popularity dipped to less than 30 per cent as compared to the 80 per cent recorded when he took over as the chief resident at Seoul's Blue House in February 2003.
When he completed 100 days in office, his popularity rating was below 50 per cent as against his two immediate predecessors who had recorded 60-80 per cent support on their 100th day anniversaries. The dip in his popularity made him look like a lameduck executive president so early.
Frustrated, he told the nation in October 2003 that he wanted a vote of confidence in his rule, possibly a referendum in a move at shoring up his crumbling support. He vowed to resign and call for fresh presidential polls coinciding with the National Assembly polls if he lost in the referendum. The move came after prosecutors accused Choi Do-sul, a long-time ally and former top aide for more than 20 years, of taking one million dollars in bribe from a business corporation in exchange for favours. Choi was also the election fund manager for Roh. Strong protest against the move made the president withdraw the referendum bid.
Not Easy
Working with the parliament has not been easy as Roh's liberal Uri Party has only 150 seats in the 272-member National Assembly. The nation's three major opposition parties hold a total of 219 seats in the National Assembly. The parliament in December 2003 overrode a presidential veto to an independent investigation into corruption allegations against former aides of the embattled president. For the first time in 49 years, the parliament reversed a president's veto.
The president drew flak from quarters that opposed sending troops to Iraq. Roh sent 3,000 troops to Iraq to help the US-led forces there. In his younger days, he had called for the US troops stationed in South Korea to leave the country. During his poll campaign, he won many voters when he stressed that Korea should not be subservient to any country (including the US). About 37,000 US troops are stationed in Korea as a deterrent against what Washington and Seoul perceive as military threats from North Korea.
Civil society has played a major role in forming a broad coalition of support and independent thinking rather than merely following self-serving politicians. Korean public perception is that political elites resort to cronyism and corruption.
Consider the manner in which two former presidents - Chun Doo-Hwan and Roh-tae Woo - were taken to court, jailed and fined before the duo submitted a public apology. President Kim Young-Sam later issued a presidential pardon.
Roh's predecessor Kim Dae-jung won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his "Sunshine Policy" of reconciliation with North Korea. Kim Dae-Jung in May 2002 issued an apology over a scandal involving his sons and some of the "figures around me". Such processes and gestures are rare in most parts of the world. This particular aspect of Korean political culture has contributed significantly to the consolidation of the country's democracy.
Roh's current position is distinctly better than what he faced a year ago. A self-taught human rights lawyer, Roh in December 2002 obtained 48.9 per cent of the votes, which was higher than that of any of his three predecessors. His "Peace and Prosperity Policy" toward the North is a continuation of his predecessor's policy of engaging the North in constructive dialogue. He is for an "honest dialogue" and opposes use of force, nuclear weapons development and "isolation of North Korea". His task is to find more effective ways than those applied by his predecessors to reduce tension in the Korean peninsula.
Presently the world's ninth largest economy, South Korea's per capita income is projected to rank No. 3 after the US and Japan within the next 20 years. Having eclipsed $500 billion in trade in 2005 for the first time in its history, the country's trade is expected to double to $1 trillion by the year 2015. The government is pushing for the construction of the new Multifunctional Administrative City (MAC) seeking a balanced development of the nation and easing the overcrowding of Seoul.
Direction
Roh has barely two years in office since the constitution allows only one term to anyone occupying the Blue House. This constitutional ceiling is influenced by the country's post-World War II political history. There is a general consensus that the First Republic of Syngman Rhee was "democratic on paper but highly authoritarian in practice".
In the spring of 1960, a rigged election and a harsh crackdown on anti-government protests caused popular unrest that led to Rhee's resignation and exile. The succeeding years saw at least two military coups and dictatorial rule till General Chun Doo-Hwan, faced with massive popular demonstrations, accepted in 1987 a demand for direct presidential election.
In March 2005, Roh announced his desire to turn South Korea into a balancing power in northeast Asia to prevent possible disputes in the region. Such a balancing role is needed. There is little dispute about it. How it can be carved out for South Korea is the important question. There are several disagreements that are obstacles to prospects of greater cooperation among the region's various regional powers.
Undertaking new economic programmes deserves top priority for Roh's hopes of leaving a respectable legacy of his years in the Blue House. The second half of 2005 has been better than the preceding months.
The president needs to maintain the tempo.
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