By Shim Jae-yun
Fresh from the Lunar New Year holiday, called Seollal in Korea, people seem rejuvenated thanks to the love and affection they shared with family members during the traditional festive period. We tend to gain strength when we are surrounded by friendly people who shower us with affection.
The people seek a cozy sheltering of the mind and refreshment from their families and relatives. Given this, the significance of the traditional holiday is increasing as society is becoming harsher and more competitive. Another conspicuous point of the traditional holiday is that it serves as a time for generating public opinion regarding current issues including political ones. The talk of the town usually involves the president, party leaders and the incoming parliamentary and presidential elections.
This is the reason why many political leaders attempt to come closer to the people in general to give a good impression and garner their support.
President Lee Myung-bak is suffering a fresh setback due to simmering criticism that a granddaughter of his was wearing a padded jacket by a French clothing brand, while they were together in a traditional market during Seollal. The event was apparently designed by the presidential office to give the impression that Lee himself is very close to the “ordinary people.” But embarrassingly enough it has triggered a negative impact upon Lee.
Responses from netizens were very satirical, denouncing him of disguising himself as being friendly to the less privileged people.
Lee Dong-kwan, former Cheong Wa Dae spokesman and a close confidant to the head of state, claimed during TV footage that the President is a “pro-ordinary” person to the bone.
Born into a poor family, Lee seems to have a deep understanding of the life of the underprivileged. During his presidential campaign, Lee managed to woo voters by dropping in at conventional markets and mingling with the merchants there while enjoying street food like fish cake called “eomuk.”
One of my relatives, who runs a small construction firm, told me during a family gathering that he regrets voting for Lee in the previous presidential election. “I thought he would enliven at least the construction industry. Now I am totally disappointed.” He went on to say that Lee seems to lack philosophy which is direly needed for a state’s leader. “He acts like the chief of a construction site.”
Regarding the requirements for a politician, former President Kim Dae-jung underlined the need for a consciousness of problems as a scholar alongside a perception of reality as a merchant. Lee has been pursuing pragmatic policies with the focus on enlarging the pie for society that can materialize with continued rapid economic growth. As a former CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, he has been seeking the growth-intensive policy. His trademark bulldozer-style was very effective in the previous authoritarian governments in the 1970s and 1980s. But now that time has passed and we are witnessing a rapid change with the rise of social networking services (SNS) coupled with the brilliant development of information and technology. All these changes require communication skills rather than a unilateral pursuit of state policy.
The alleged lack of philosophy and ethics seems to have resulted in numerous corruption scandals involving Lee’s relatives and aides. In terms of foreign affairs, it led to sour relations with neighboring nations like China and North Korea at the cost of cementing ties with the United States. Despite Lee’s slogan for measures for the ordinary people, they have not seen the benefits, believing the government policies have been focused only on helping the nation’s large business conglomerates.
Some historians say the Joseon Kingdom managed to lasting more than 500 years was a rare case in human history, due to the fact that there were many royal followers of the king that boldly spoke of what the regent needed to know, even though such statements would bring negative consequences against them. Compared to the true loyal men called “chungsin” the kings who were surrounded by selfish and wicked followers called “gansin” were destined to meet their demise in the end.
Now Lee seems to need to listen to words from the chungsin rather than the sweet words from the ganshin currying favor with him. Nestled in a human barricade, he can never hear to the words of the people and have smooth lines of communication with them.