ed Empress or president

Park insists on ‘my-way-or-highway’ approach

President Park Geun-hye made a speech at the National Assembly, Tuesday, to ask for prompt action on the government’s 2016 budget proposal. It was laudable for the head of state to keep her promise to pay an annual visit there every year since she took office.

It is a pity, though, that Park obviously left one important element of democracy ― the spirit of compromise ― at Cheong Wa Dae during her trip to the legislature, her partner in governance ― that it should be.

Her “take only and give none” unilateralism being well-known, it’s in a way understandable for opposition lawmakers to blame Park for ignoring the parliamentary function of checks and balances and receive her with placards of protest, although we don’t encourage such action out of respect for the office of the presidency.

What let us down most was her unchanging position to reclaim the right for a state monopoly on the publication of history textbooks. It goes without saying that it smacks of outright dictatorship. Such a monopoly was abolished 40 years ago and no advanced country dares to reclaim such a right.

Given a bit of extremism, it can be seen as a challenge to the freedom of expression and an attempt to control the people’s thoughts with the goal of turning the country into an Orwellian police state.

Park even faces accusations of glorifying the legacy of her father, President Park Chung-hee, who is credited for the nation’s miraculous economic development but is criticized for his alleged collaboration with Japanese colonialists and suppressing human rights during his 16-year iron fisted rule.

During the speech, she said, “I won’t tolerate any distortions of history,” and the result of that looks as though it could result in a state-published history textbook. This reinforces her unilateralism and raises the question: Who will correct distortions in the state textbook?

“It’s our duty to normalize history education so as to firmly establish a strong sense of loyalty to the nation,” she said. She has it wrong. There are numerous historic examples by which diversity beats uniformity in producing a stronger state. One extreme case is North Korea where there is only one history and it is about the deification of the dynastic Kim family. No further elaboration needed here.

Then, the President said, “Rectifying history can’t be subject to partisan wrangling.” We want to remind the President that our nation is a democracy in which everybody is entitled to have their opinions heard ― and that even the minority view should also be reflected in the determination of the future course of the nation, and that her mandate comes not just from those who voted for her but also from those who didn’t. If the President has any personal ulterior purpose behind her efforts to rewrite history, it is imperative that she hear the other side and respect it as a partner in the decision-making process. If she is eager to leave any legacy, it shouldn’t be one of unilateralism but one of compromise so as to enable the nation to continue on its path toward mature democracy.

Besides, with a little bit more than two years left in office, Park has a lot of important things on her docket. She has done well in creating an international consensus for containing North Korea’s nuclear brinkmanship and, as she said in her speech, is seeing a modest improvement in the economy. The issue of the state’s monopoly on the textbooks is threatening to discount her achievements. Her success as president is very much identical to that of the nation. She can’t afford any distractions.