No peaceful days of summer

By Park Moo-jong

Positive news makes people happy, while negative news make people angry and scares them.

The Republic of Korea, namely South Korea, in particular, in the summer of 2016 is in trouble, a situation that could even be described as a national crisis as agreed upon by the majority of people living in the divided country, in the face of a heap of difficult questions to solve.

Poor national leadership is adding salt to injury with no doubt.

The economy has not yet shown any signs of a recovery, first of all, with the year’s growth rate likely to hit its lowest in decades at below 3 percent. The Bank of Korea forecasts 2.8 percent and early this week the Korea Development Institute 2.6 percent.

The dreadful term “restructuring” is again on the lips of everybody after the unprecedented currency crisis of late 1997 forced a painful corporate slimming over the following years.

The unemployment rate is still going up, especially among young people, while consumer prices are tending to rise and merchants are complaining of an ever-decreasing number of customers.

In defiance of worsening economic conditions, notably in shipbuilding and manufacturing, some unionized workers went on an unprecedented strike, demanding more pay. In fact, they enjoy bigger earnings than other workers in other industries.

Furthermore, bank union members Tuesday, almost unanimously, voted for a nationwide strike in September, against the management's plan to introduce a performance-based salary system.

The young autocrat in the rogue country in the northern part of the Korean peninsula is busy ever aggravating the security situation with continuous nuclear tests and test-launchings of ballistic missiles.

The North Korean launching of three short-range ballistic missiles in the East Sea apparently aims at adding fuel the ideological strife between conservatives and left-wing progressives over the planned deployment of a THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) battery.

Of course, where to install the system "to defend South Korea from North Korea's evolving nuclear and ballistic missile attacks" has become a core issue due to the revived NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) phenomenon, this time in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

And some irresponsible news media are all out to let the people "know" the "adverse” health effects from the electronic pulses from the radar of the THAAD system and potential harm to the residents' fruit produce, namely "Korean melon" or "chamwoe."

Finally, JTBC, a cable TV network, "reluctantly" aired an apology Sunday about a July 13 report concerning the safety of the system.

The broadcaster aired an erroneous report about the controversial issue, based on its "mistranslation" of a Stars & Stripes report in January about the THAAD system in operation in Guam.

It seems that the cable TV network, an affiliate of the JoongAng Ilbo, made the apology four days later reluctantly, bowing to the pouring criticism of the people through SNS who alleged that the "mistranslation" was intended.

It is really hard to understand that such a TV network could make such a mistranslation that was broadcast as fact. Was anyone held responsible for such a dumbfounded report based on the incorrectly translated story? I've never heard of it until now.

Against this backdrop, what “pisses” the people off most, who are faithful to their given jobs despite the package of these difficult conditions, is the shameless behavior of those in the leading class.

Let's look into the prosecutors' office. Those whose duty is to enforce the law fairly are staggering, losing public confidence and their own authority in the wake of a series of incredible wrongdoings of senior prosecutors and senior prosecutors-turned-lawyers. The justice minister and prosecutor general were busy apologizing in public when they should have been busy safeguarding law and order.

A senior prosecutor-turned-senior presidential secretary has been making headlines with regard to the deal of his wife's family real estate located in the heart of Gangnam, one of the most affluent districts south of the Hangang River.

What's going on in the political world, especially in the ruling Saenuri Party, is becoming more and more ridiculous.

The never-ending conflict between pro-Park or "Chin Park" (President Park Keun-hye) and anti-Park or "Bi-Park" members is getting out of hand, only making the people, particularly those who voted for them angry.

Few can deny that all this mess is the result of a lack of national leadership. The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. The ultimate role of the nation’s leader is to stabilize the state at any cost.

People of today are exposed to violent and negative news all day long through mobile phones and SNS. But there are still many more good people than bad in this society. It is our role to make this place better to live in.

And, we know well that firm unity among the people plus cooperation between the public and the government is the key to helping the nation tide itself over this difficult situation, though the task is not that easy.

History shows that we Koreans have done so in the face of crises.

As time goes by, autumn will set in soon. After the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, the cool breezes will be refreshing, I hope.

Park Moo-jong is The Korea Times advisor. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English newspaper from 2004 to 2014 after he worked as a reporter of the daily from 1974. He can be reached at moojong@ktimes.co.kr or emjei29@gmail.com