By Oh Young-jin
Business Editor
I found a sign of President Lee Myung-bak's fatigue after eight months of national governance in the least expected place.
It was on the cheeks of Lee's spokesman Lee Dong-kwan.
As I shook hands with the former political reporter-turned presidential spokesman ahead of a luncheon hosted by President Lee for business editors, I saw an added ounce or two of flesh on his cheeks. I almost forgot the term, ``Cheong Wa Dae flesh,'' if I didn't unintentionally overhear a junior secretary, also a former reporter, talk defensively about it in response to an off-the-cuff observation that he had gained weight around his waistline. This term was also used during my one-year stint as secretary during the previous administration, referring to the thicker waistline presidential aides acquire after working under pressure for the leader of the nation 24/7.
When President Lee dropped by the greenroom where the editors gathered before heading to the banquet hall, Lee looked in good mood and didn't cough or clear his throat as often as he did when I interviewed him during his mayoral days. He had pulmonary trouble in his youth.
If I detected the fleeting shadow of an increase in weight, I dismissed it because of his firm grip when we shook hands. It was only later that I realized an upbeat mood in the President after Deputy spokeswoman Kim Eun-hae, mistress of ceremonies, started the luncheon by talking about an upswing in stock prices and stabilization in the won-dollar exchange rates following the Seoul-Washington agreement on currency swaps. Kim talked about a change in those economic indicators once again before the meeting was over.
Seated diagonally from the President at a rectangle-shaped table, I occasionally stole a glance at Lee and saw on his face an expression that was forming into a smile but didn't quite make it.
He spent about 10 minutes talking freely about the current economic situation at the start of luncheon and another 20 minutes or so in answer to questions by the editors after their plates were taken away. The President brought a high degree of discipline to what he had to say. After the luncheon was over, Cheong Wa Dae asked editors to stick to a pool dispatch, a step I believed was intended to make sure nothing would go haywire from President Lee's remarks.
Perhaps, their effort to minimize the exposure of the CEO President to the media when he was off guard was based on a lesson learned from the previous administration, which often got itself into trouble for having its heart on its sleeve.
The only sour note Lee hit was about the critical treatment the media was giving to a series of government measures to counter effects from the global financial crisis. In particular, he didn't like the media description of his attitudes as being ``too laid-back'' or ``lacking urgency.'' His semantic aversion is apparently attributable to diligence and earnestness required for him to zoom up the corporate ladder and stay on as CEO for a long period of time.
Asked about the necessity of changing his economic team headed by Strategy and Economy Minister Kang Man-soo, a remnant from a group of bureaucrats who failed to tackle the 1997 financial crisis, Lee tactfully avoided a direct answer by resorting to a broad statement. It reminded me of a course I took in handling tough questions.
My impressions about Lee after spending two hours with him were two-fold. He looks determined and worldly-wise and keeps a tight ship around Cheong Wa Dae. Are they good characteristics for a head of state? The answer is yes and no. Yes, because he is expected to try and attain the goals he set out for his administration with little digression. No, because the command structure of his kind of leadership allows for little flexibility. A combination of both a mission-oriented and get-the-job-done attitude with a dose of flexibility is the ideal recipe for a successful presidency. But history shows Lee's predecessors over-leaned one way or the other. Can Lee buck the tenor of history by adopting this ideal recipe and preparing the best serving of governance? Lee has yet to show how good a cook he is.
Ask President Lee Myung-bak whom he would vote for in the U.S. presidential election (when this column went to press, it was hours before the polling began), the chance is that Lee would vote with his heart for President Bush.
For obvious reasons, Lee cannot cast a ballot in the U.S. election but this fictional account may speak of Lee's sentiment about Bush.
There is no knowing whether the two have seen each other's soul in their eyes. Bush invited Lee to his retreat for a summit in April and the two were seen driving around in an electric golf cart together. Lee paid dearly for this trip, facing two months of candlelit vigils triggered by his decision to resume U.S. beef imports.
Bush was appreciative. His administration contributed a great deal to Korea getting a seat on the upcoming G-20 meeting in Washington, an important venue expected to deal with post-Brentwood financial architecture. Washington also came to the rescue of the Lee administration in its battle with financial instability by agreeing to a won-dollar currency swap.
Lee's two liberal predecessors ― Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Dae-jung ― didn't like Bush. The feelings were apparently mutual. Lee's Cheong Wa Dae is proud of good relations with the United States as a major change from the oft-confrontational approach Roh and Kim took during their time in office.
Lee and Bush share similar career backgrounds, both being former CEOs and politically conservative. Lee supplements his lack of political philosophy with a keen sense of business acumen ― pragmatism, while Bush with religiosity.
On the bottom line (a caveat barring no unknown side deals), Lee has done good business with Bush. But the question is whether Lee's political friendship with Bush, one of the most unpopular and worst U.S. Presidents, can go subprime and become a liability with his successors ― Barrack Obama or John McCain.
Obama's election would mean an end of the eight-year Republican rule ― a changeover which the records show entails a sweeping change ― a rearrangement of priorities and drastic turns in foreign policies.
Just remember the anything but Clinton policy Bush adopted, reversing key polices advocated during the previous eight-year liberal rule. Once he was elected, Lee denied the rapprochement his liberal predecessors had pushed with North Korea for 10 years at the risk of worsening relations with the Stalinist country.
Even if McCain wins, he, known as a maverick, would likely do his best to rebut a pre-election accusation that his rule would represent an extension of Bush's eight years in office.
Whoever wins, Lee will have to deal with a U.S. president of a different breed, his diplomatic skills will be put to the test. I wonder who Lee's second choice would be.