MERS, Grexit and politics

By Jay Kim

The entire country had been plunged into fear by Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, but it now seems to be under control. Relentless night-and-day efforts by doctors, nurses and other medical professionals were critical in overcoming this odd disease known to have originated from camels in the desert. The excellence of Korean medical capacity and responsibility has been proven to be at the world's highest level. Korea has now accumulated enough know-how; it seems, to tackle any communicable disease.

Now that we've regained normality from the MERS's fear, we find that the National Assembly is in a mess. Some people say that Korea's politics seems more fearful than MERS, as the Assembly is torn apart over partisan battles. Unspeakable personal criticism has been targeted at President Park Geun-hye after she vetoed a revision to the National Assembly Act, saying it was unconstitutional. What is going on? I can't make sense of this situation ― there are too many public welfare bills for the Assembly to take care of instead of fighting over a vetoed one.

The problematic part of the Assembly's decision on the National Assembly Act is that the bill was designed to empower parliament to demand amendments to government ordinances, which may be translated as an encroachment on executive power. I also believe that it is out of line with the principle of separation of powers among the legislative legal, administrative and judicial branches ― the very backbone of our democratic system. The President objected to the bill and returned it back to the Assembly. After reconsideration, if two-thirds still approve, the President's veto becomes invalid, while the bill becomes dead if less than two-thirds approve. The President only exercised the legal veto power allowed by the Constitution, and the Assembly did not gain the necessary two-thirds majority approval, which should then end the discussion; it is not right to continue to attack the President.

It is time that we stop these factional fights like the ones from the Joseon era 200-300 years ago and get ready for the impact the Greek financial crisis will have on us. Whatever happened to Greece with all its past glories? Millions of tourists from every part of the world travelled far and spent big money to see what the Greeks' ancestors accomplished. The Greeks earned easy money for decades, but money entered easily is bound to exit easily as well. Moreover, the Greeks have become complacent with their abundance of benefits and an overgenerous welfare system; most of their public facilities, including subways and buses, are free of charge. However, with the passage of time, tourism declined while the Greeks made no attempts to improve their assets to keep the tourism industry competitive and vibrant. Income naturally declined, while spending kept on rising.

Despite barely surviving through enormous support from the European Union's Central Bank and IMF, Greece did not cut their spending enough and kept the welfare spending high. It is natural for the creditor nations to press Greece toward stronger austerity measures to reduce pension and welfare spending and increase taxes to repay the debt. In the midst of all this, a former member of the Communist Youth of Greece, Alexis Tsipras, became the Prime Minister. Arousing the public through a traditional leftist method, Tsipras asserted that Greece would withdraw from EU membership if its creditors do not write off 30 percent of their debt. Greece held a national vote that resulted in a "no" result to the bailout referendum, but that had no effect whatsoever.

Korea went through a harsher time during the Asian financial crisis, but Korean citizens scrapped their wedding bands and gold necklaces to donate to the government in support of the country. The efforts resulted in the early repayment of the debt by an entire year. An alien disease, MERS, created confusion at first, but it was under control in just a month's time with our collective efforts. Isn't it time for this ugly factional battle that has gone on for the past 300 years to finally disappear?

It only took us three years to pass the Constitution when the US spent 13 years to pass theirs, and we've never annulled our Constitution, nor dissolved the National Assembly. The Republic of Korea is the only nation that achieved a democratic political system and became an economic powerhouse in such a short time span.

Jay Kim is a former U.S. congressman. He is chairman of the Kim Chang Joon U.S.-Korea Foundation. For more information, visit Kim's website at www.jayckim.com.

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