ed Bungled 'Korean Dream'

Political wrangling yields unwarranted victim

Political wrangling over the government restructuring plan has yielded an unwarranted victim, to the detriment of the national interest.

Science Minister-designate Kim Jeong-hoon unexpectedly withdrew Monday amid a prolonged National Assembly deadlock over President Park Geun-hye’s bill to restructure the administration. Kim, a Korean-American venture businessman, told a hurriedly-convened press conference, "It has become difficult to keep my Korean Dream to dedicate myself to the homeland while watching the confusion over the reorganization bill."

It’s shocking and horrible to see Kim, an icon of the American Dream for South Koreans in the United States, withdraw his nomination after feeling frustrated over the disappointing reality of our politics. He is presumed to have quit as the newly created science ministry has emerged as a key source of the dispute and the proposed Sunday meeting between Park and the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties was canceled.

Kim, who was nominated as the first chief of the new ministry last month, emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 15 and became a venture legend by creating his own business. He was resolute enough to give up his vested interests, including American citizenship, to help his motherland get another takeoff in his capacity as the chief of the new science ministry that will be tasked with creating more jobs and nurturing new growth engines.

Once again, it’s pitiful to see our parties engage in political tit-for-tat warfare continuously without making concessions to each other. On Monday, President Park apologized to the nation for the deadlock in state affairs but reaffirmed the need to transfer broadcasting policies to the science ministry. "There is no other purpose than to strengthen the country’s competitiveness by creating a new growth engine and improving the people’s livelihoods through job creation," she said in her nationally televised speech.

We sympathize in part with Park over her rebuttal of the main opposition Democratic United Party’s claim that the move is an attempt to control the broadcasting sector but don’t support her argument that "this is something that I can’t step back from in order to improve the country’s future." Rather, the pending issue is something both the ruling camp and the opposition can ― and should ― yield to each other.

Kim’s resignation also leaves something for us to ponder over in connection with Korean society’s narrow-mindedness, given senseless doubts about his qualifications that arose from his brisk activities in American mainstream society. At a time when countries all over the world compete to attract talented figures, would it be rational if Korea is singled out in accepting successful immigrants?

Needless to say, the President and the rival parties should take a step backward and hammer out a compromise immediately, not to be deserted by the people. They need to reason why software mogul-turned-politician Ahn Cheol-soo intends to return home at this time.