What President Park has in mind

By Sah Dong-seok

The governing Saenuri Party is in a mess after its humiliating defeat in the April 13 general election. The party is eager to revive its hopes for next year's presidential election, boosted by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's trip to Korea last week ― mainly centering around loyalists to President Park Geun-hye. But expecting too much from the career diplomat seems premature.

The ruling party also set in motion work to reinvent itself by inviting former Constitutional Court Justice Kim Hee-ok to be its interim leader. But given the party's deep-seated factional feud, few seem optimistic.

Expectations for cooperative governance were high when President Park invited floor leaders and chief policymakers of the main parties to Cheong Wa Dae to discuss pressing issues last month, apparently conscious of the opposition's first majority in nearly 30 years. But this cooperative ambience dissipated as Park remained stubborn over the song "March for the Beloved,'' and vetoed a revision to the National Assembly Act that would have activated hearings at the behest of parliamentary committees.

If past experience is any guide, her response following the parliamentary polls was quite unusual. In former times, an election defeat of this scale ― the ruling party was demoted to the second-largest party for the first time in history ― was followed routinely by the wholesale resignation of the Cabinet and a shakeup of the presidential secretariat. This time, however, her chief of staff, who was hardly responsible for the defeat, was replaced, whereas her senior secretary for political affairs, who was partly responsible, was retained.

All this raises fears that the nation's first female head of state might not be aware that she is the most responsible for the election fiasco. It's bizarre if she doesn't acknowledge that continuing economic woes, including high youth unemployment, and a string of policy failures, including the government's poor response to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) last year, were the cause of the election defeat. She might be obsessed with the unrealistic notion that she is undergoing these hardships because of a revolt from within the party or the opposition's hampering of state affairs.

Few ― even in the opposition ― doubt her patriotism and passion for work. With one and a half years to go before the end of her five-year term, her governance is heading to the worst ever situation, reminding people of the saying that a hard-working but stupid leader is the most problematic one.

When it comes to being self-righteous and stubborn, she appears to be second to none. This trait was well demonstrated when she ordered her underlings to force Rep. Yoo Seong-min, who had been in a confrontation with her, out of the governing party.

There are few people, if any, who think that she will change. Most pundits believe that she will stick to her current go-it-alone style for the rest of her tenure, regardless of criticism even from some of her supporters as well as the opposition. One cannot help but feel hopeless, considering that nothing can be realized, including badly needed labor reform, without cooperation from the opposition. She probably may have no legacy to leave behind, and this is quite unfortunate for the country as a whole, let alone her personally.

She was not that obstinate before becoming president. In the run-up to the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2012, she spearheaded the ruling party's innovation drive, listening to other people. Unfortunately now there is no need for her to heed public opinion any longer because she can't be re-elected.

Many people wonder what President Park is thinking, citing her political cul-de-sac. As things stand now, it appears hard for the ruling Saenuri Party to regain power. So some speculation has it that she will give up continuing a conservative government and instead opt to exercise her influence after leaving Cheong Wa Dae, relying on her loyalists in the party, given her relatively young age. Another scenario has it that she would let her loyalists recruit the U.N. secretary-general in a bid to maintain power.

But all of these seem unrealistic.

The idea of letting the outgoing president keep his or her influence is unprecedented and almost impossible. Rather, the outgoing president might become the target of political retaliation.

The idea of fielding Ban in next year's presidential election also rings hollow, considering the dire state of the Saenuri Party. No matter how high Ban's approval rating may be, the governing party wouldn't be able to win the election without genuine reform.

After all, it's highly likely that President Park will end her tenure without achieving anything, isolated in the presidential office and surrounded by astute bureaucrats, while being long on words but short on action. To be sure, that will be a disaster.

Some critics attribute her overall failure in governance to a lack of trusted advisers who can speak straightforwardly to the unmarried female chief executive.

All in all, we hope to see President Park change by having trusted advisers near at hand. This requires her to acknowledge the realities of the changed political landscape, come forward to embrace cooperative governance with the opposition and also listen to her critics.

The writer is the executive editor of The Korea Times. Contact him at sahds@ktimes.com.