President needs to provide substance
President Moon Jae-in put television to its best use when he reported about the results of his first 100 days in office Sunday night. After his unscripted news conference a few days earlier, Moon bore the semblance of being an efficient communicator, a key character point for any successful leader. Now he has to match his words with action.
The one-hour program broadcast live on all three networks started with a bang ― rock group Daybreak belting out its hit song, perhaps fittingly, "I only will have you walk on a flowery path." An announcer, a deputy Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman, introduced the song, saying, "It is the people who had the Moon government walk the flowery road for the past 100 days. It is our turn to return your favor." The venue, the Guest Hall at the Blue House, was filled with people invited from all walks of life.
But as with all shows, the Sunday night event lacked details in answers by government officials or scrutiny over them. Replying to the question about a Korean listed missing for two months in Laos, asked by a friend of hers, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha gave some basic information but failed to provide detailed preventive measures.
All Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo could do was to provide reassurances without details when asked how the government would improve challenges facing disabled people.
President Moon himself defended his policy of subsidizing decent jobs for young people but with a possible flaw in his logic. He claimed that young job seekers facing a tight job market were the offspring of baby boomers ― a significant segment of the population ― so once their generation passed, this would drop significantly. But Moon's assertion is based on a statistical oversimplification that only focuses on demographics.
The "show" triggered an outcry from opposition parties ― the main opposition, conservative Liberty Korea Party, called the event "cheap self-promotion," while the centrist People's Party dubbed it "something putting show ahead of substance." They also criticized Moon for distractions from important issues such as North Korea's nuclear and missile challenges, or pesticide-contaminated eggs, currently a top health issue.
Past administrations staged self-complimentary programs in their early euphoric stages, but veered off the course and got into trouble. President Moon has a reason to be boisterous with his job performance ratings. In order to avoid repeating the same mistakes of previous governments, Moon should discuss how his many populist programs will be financed. For any of them to be realized, he needs to work with the opposition parties, as his ruling Democratic Party of Korea is short of an absolute majority. The time for shows is over and Moon should start to deliver results.
President Moon Jae-in put television to its best use when he reported about the results of his first 100 days in office Sunday night. After his unscripted news conference a few days earlier, Moon bore the semblance of being an efficient communicator, a key character point for any successful leader. Now he has to match his words with action.
The one-hour program broadcast live on all three networks started with a bang ― rock group Daybreak belting out its hit song, perhaps fittingly, "I only will have you walk on a flowery path." An announcer, a deputy Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman, introduced the song, saying, "It is the people who had the Moon government walk the flowery road for the past 100 days. It is our turn to return your favor." The venue, the Guest Hall at the Blue House, was filled with people invited from all walks of life.
But as with all shows, the Sunday night event lacked details in answers by government officials or scrutiny over them. Replying to the question about a Korean listed missing for two months in Laos, asked by a friend of hers, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha gave some basic information but failed to provide detailed preventive measures.
All Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo could do was to provide reassurances without details when asked how the government would improve challenges facing disabled people.
President Moon himself defended his policy of subsidizing decent jobs for young people but with a possible flaw in his logic. He claimed that young job seekers facing a tight job market were the offspring of baby boomers ― a significant segment of the population ― so once their generation passed, this would drop significantly. But Moon's assertion is based on a statistical oversimplification that only focuses on demographics.
The "show" triggered an outcry from opposition parties ― the main opposition, conservative Liberty Korea Party, called the event "cheap self-promotion," while the centrist People's Party dubbed it "something putting show ahead of substance." They also criticized Moon for distractions from important issues such as North Korea's nuclear and missile challenges, or pesticide-contaminated eggs, currently a top health issue.
Past administrations staged self-complimentary programs in their early euphoric stages, but veered off the course and got into trouble. President Moon has a reason to be boisterous with his job performance ratings. In order to avoid repeating the same mistakes of previous governments, Moon should discuss how his many populist programs will be financed. For any of them to be realized, he needs to work with the opposition parties, as his ruling Democratic Party of Korea is short of an absolute majority. The time for shows is over and Moon should start to deliver results.
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