By Sah Dong-seok
"Couldn't be better." No other phrase would better describe the new Moon Jae-in administration that has passed its first month in office.
President Moon's approval rating once hit an all-time high of 84 percent, breaking the record for all presidents set by the late President Kim Young-sam in 1993. Support for the former human rights lawyer will decline inevitably, but this is no wonder, considering that the initial hopes for a new government always fade over time.
It's not difficult to figure out why Moon has been enjoying such high popularity. Unlike his predecessor Park Geun-hye who is now on trial for corruption after being impeached, Moon showed that his administration will be less authoritarian and boost communication with the public.
He captivated detractors as well as supporters by breaking with longstanding formalities. He was seen walking around the presidential office with his senior aides, jacket off and coffee cup in hand. He let wounded rank-and-file soldiers be seated next to him at a Memorial Day ceremony _ a major departure from the normal protocol that requires heads of the four branches of government to occupy those seats.
Moon has also impressed the people with his personnel appointments. He has embraced bureaucrats who held high positions in previous governments in response to the public's call for recruiting competent people from a wider pool of talent. He has also named many women to key posts.
The striking feature of his first month in office is that he has succeeded in securing support thanks largely to his "image politics." But people are fed up with what appear to be populist tactics.
Moon won the five-way snap election easily with support of 41 percent. But his support would fall to 30 percent if those who didn't cast votes for him are included, meaning that seven out of 10 people didn't approve of him. There is no question that the political reality facing him is hardly favorable.
In fact, the Moon administration is already running into trouble.
Although more than a month has passed since he was sworn in, it's unclear when he will be able to finalize the formation of his inaugural Cabinet. He has nominated candidates with ethical problems to Cabinet posts, but the opposition is refusing to endorse some of them, citing Moon's campaign promise to set strict ethical standards for ministers.
His Democratic Party of Korea holds only 40 percent of the 300-seat National Assembly, falling far short of the 60 percent necessary to pass contentious bills.
Also, there are a lot of issues liberal and conservative voters disagree on.
The recent brouhaha over the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here is a case in point.
After much meandering, the new government decided to postpone deploying the anti-missile shield, citing procedural problems _ to be more precise, the improper environmental impact assessment by the defense ministry. During his election campaign, Moon and his then main opposition party took a negative stance on the anti-missile system being deployed here. So the delay is hardly surprising, but its implications will be far-reaching.
One can easily guess Moon's calculation _ buying time to soften China that has been taking economic retaliatory measures against Korean companies and making a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations during that period. Then, it would be possible to pull the battery from the Korean Peninsula.
But his tightrope walking might dent the decades-old Korea-U.S. alliance ahead of Moon's first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in late June. If that is the case, would the large number of people who did not vote for him in the last election support his risky bet?
During his first speech before the National Assembly Monday, President Moon called for swift action by lawmakers, saying the nation may face an economic crisis that is "as serious as a national disaster" if the unemployment problem remains unresolved.
His aggressive moves are understandable, especially given that youth unemployment hovers near an all-time high. But his overall approach toward job creation may be wrong-headed.
Moon says the market has failed to create jobs, so the government should hire more employees. But increasing jobs through taxpayer money is clearly limited and unsustainable, and is doomed to fail.
More important, Moon may be reneging on his promise to be different from his predecessors who often stuck to authoritarianism and didn't listen to others. His overbearing attitude came to light after Kim Young-bae, vice chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, said in late May that companies were having trouble running their businesses owing to growing demands to convert irregular employees into regular workers. Moon took that as an attack on his economic agenda and lashed out at the organization for worsening income inequality.
Examples of Moon's unrealistic and inflated policies are plenty. His de facto transition committee called for shutting down all nuclear power plants in the country over the next 40 years without even drawing up a long-term energy supply-demand plan. Moon's campaign promise to raise the minimum wage to 10,000 won by 2020 also worries many self-employed merchants across the country.
Given that political power has shifted from the conservatives to the liberals, all these problems might seem trivial. But it is essential to resolve them pragmatically, transcending narrow ideological frameworks, and readjust policies to reality.
If Moon caters only to his supporters, bound by his liberal agenda, and turns away from fundamental solutions, the people's strong support could quickly turn into anger.
The writer is the executive editor of The Korea Times. Contact him at sahds@ktimes.com.
.jpg/dims/resize/740/optimize) |
President Moon's approval rating once hit an all-time high of 84 percent, breaking the record for all presidents set by the late President Kim Young-sam in 1993. Support for the former human rights lawyer will decline inevitably, but this is no wonder, considering that the initial hopes for a new government always fade over time.
It's not difficult to figure out why Moon has been enjoying such high popularity. Unlike his predecessor Park Geun-hye who is now on trial for corruption after being impeached, Moon showed that his administration will be less authoritarian and boost communication with the public.
He captivated detractors as well as supporters by breaking with longstanding formalities. He was seen walking around the presidential office with his senior aides, jacket off and coffee cup in hand. He let wounded rank-and-file soldiers be seated next to him at a Memorial Day ceremony _ a major departure from the normal protocol that requires heads of the four branches of government to occupy those seats.
Moon has also impressed the people with his personnel appointments. He has embraced bureaucrats who held high positions in previous governments in response to the public's call for recruiting competent people from a wider pool of talent. He has also named many women to key posts.
The striking feature of his first month in office is that he has succeeded in securing support thanks largely to his "image politics." But people are fed up with what appear to be populist tactics.
Moon won the five-way snap election easily with support of 41 percent. But his support would fall to 30 percent if those who didn't cast votes for him are included, meaning that seven out of 10 people didn't approve of him. There is no question that the political reality facing him is hardly favorable.
In fact, the Moon administration is already running into trouble.
Although more than a month has passed since he was sworn in, it's unclear when he will be able to finalize the formation of his inaugural Cabinet. He has nominated candidates with ethical problems to Cabinet posts, but the opposition is refusing to endorse some of them, citing Moon's campaign promise to set strict ethical standards for ministers.
His Democratic Party of Korea holds only 40 percent of the 300-seat National Assembly, falling far short of the 60 percent necessary to pass contentious bills.
Also, there are a lot of issues liberal and conservative voters disagree on.
The recent brouhaha over the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here is a case in point.
After much meandering, the new government decided to postpone deploying the anti-missile shield, citing procedural problems _ to be more precise, the improper environmental impact assessment by the defense ministry. During his election campaign, Moon and his then main opposition party took a negative stance on the anti-missile system being deployed here. So the delay is hardly surprising, but its implications will be far-reaching.
One can easily guess Moon's calculation _ buying time to soften China that has been taking economic retaliatory measures against Korean companies and making a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations during that period. Then, it would be possible to pull the battery from the Korean Peninsula.
But his tightrope walking might dent the decades-old Korea-U.S. alliance ahead of Moon's first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in late June. If that is the case, would the large number of people who did not vote for him in the last election support his risky bet?
During his first speech before the National Assembly Monday, President Moon called for swift action by lawmakers, saying the nation may face an economic crisis that is "as serious as a national disaster" if the unemployment problem remains unresolved.
His aggressive moves are understandable, especially given that youth unemployment hovers near an all-time high. But his overall approach toward job creation may be wrong-headed.
Moon says the market has failed to create jobs, so the government should hire more employees. But increasing jobs through taxpayer money is clearly limited and unsustainable, and is doomed to fail.
More important, Moon may be reneging on his promise to be different from his predecessors who often stuck to authoritarianism and didn't listen to others. His overbearing attitude came to light after Kim Young-bae, vice chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, said in late May that companies were having trouble running their businesses owing to growing demands to convert irregular employees into regular workers. Moon took that as an attack on his economic agenda and lashed out at the organization for worsening income inequality.
Examples of Moon's unrealistic and inflated policies are plenty. His de facto transition committee called for shutting down all nuclear power plants in the country over the next 40 years without even drawing up a long-term energy supply-demand plan. Moon's campaign promise to raise the minimum wage to 10,000 won by 2020 also worries many self-employed merchants across the country.
Given that political power has shifted from the conservatives to the liberals, all these problems might seem trivial. But it is essential to resolve them pragmatically, transcending narrow ideological frameworks, and readjust policies to reality.
If Moon caters only to his supporters, bound by his liberal agenda, and turns away from fundamental solutions, the people's strong support could quickly turn into anger.
The writer is the executive editor of The Korea Times. Contact him at sahds@ktimes.com.
![[PHOTOS] Kep1er returns with 'Magic Hour' to mesmerize fans](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/cd6a652dcfe345fe92b760583c5eb68a.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
