Transparency counts

By John Burton

Park Geun-hye can be seen as a tragic figure. In the space of five years, while in her 20s, she saw first her mother being murdered in 1974 and then her father in 1979 in politically motivated crimes.

These events have probably contributed to public perceptions that she is a lone, perhaps insecure and secretive figure who uses a small group of advisors as a wall against the world.

She is said to prefer retiring to her living quarters to study state papers at night instead of socializing. Former advisors have described her as being stubborn in refusing to change her mind once a decision has been made.

Moreover, she seems most interested in burnishing her father’s legacy as the father of modern South Korea to counter criticism by political opponents that he was a harsh dictator.

For example, her administration is actively promoting the saemaul (new village) rural development scheme that her father launched in the 1970s as a model for poor developing countries to adopt now.

President Park is in danger of falling into an unfortunate pattern followed by other Asian female leaders, who seemed more motivated in rescuing the legacy of their husbands or fathers rather than governing effectively.

This proved to be the case with Philippines President Corazon Aquino whose politician husband was assassinated, Indonesia President Megawati Sukarnoputri whose father was toppled in a military coup and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina whose father was overthrown and killed in a military coup.

Moreover, even before coming to power President Park was dogged by public doubts whether she had a new vision in leading the nation. Her record in her first two years has been seen as a disappointment when it comes to achieving the “creative economy,” curbing the power of the chaebol or reviving economic growth. Her administration has also been criticized for a series of poor senior personnel appointments.

The memogate scandal has crystallized the public doubts surrounding the Park administration, with its portrayal of factional infighting among the President’s closest advisors and leaving open the question of who is really running the country.

President Park has made matters worse by her response to memogate. Her initial reaction was to lash out at the Korean media for publishing a leaked secret document that focused on the alleged influential role of Jeong Yun-hoe, her former chief of staff, while several Blue House officials filed defamation suits against the offending media outlets.

There has been little attempt by Blue House to clarify what has been happening in the upper reaches of government. This has undermined public support for the President as her approval rating falls below 40 percent.

The administration has exhibited a similar “tin ear” approach in dealing with earlier crises, such as sinking of the Sewol. The government reportedly put pressure on broadcasters to downplay the government’s initial inept response to the sinking, which only increased public distrust and led to a protracted political dispute on how a subsequent independent investigation of the incident would be conducted. The result was a legislative gridlock that lasted for six months.

“The currency of leadership is transparency,” says Howard Schultz, the head of Starbucks, in defining best corporate practices. The same can be said for government and it is advice that President Park needs to take to heart.

The problem is that President Park has surrounded herself with trusted allies of her father, such as Kim Ki-choon, the chief of staff, who authored the authoritarian Yushin constitution in 1974. Other top posts are filled by former generals and public security prosecutors, who are not the type of figures who favor open communication with the public.

If President Park does not change, she will jeopardize the legacy of her father, such as a strong executive, that she hoped to protect.

Growing unpopularity against president will fuel further talk of constitutional reform that would transfer some powers from the Blue House to the prime minister and cabinet and create a semi-parliamentary style of government along the French model.

Moreover, the president’s lame duck status would increase the power of the Korean bureaucracy, whose corrupt ties with business was exposed by the Sewol tragedy.

Korea prides itself as being the most wired nation in the world, but there is little acknowledgement among the top ranks of government and business that this also means they are living in an age of increased transparency where mistakes can no longer be hidden. Korean Air has also learned this lesson to its cost after it initially tried to cover up the more salacious details of Heather Cho’s “nut” rage.

Korea has arrived in the 21st century, but many government officials and business executives still have the hierarchical mindset of the 1970s and that attitude no longer works.

John Burton, a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is now a Seoul-based independent journalist and media consultant. He can be reached at john. burton@insightcomms.com.