President's Pyrrhic victory

By John Burton

This newspaper published a story earlier this month with the headline, “Ruling camp feud puzzles foreign diplomats,” referring to the clash between President Park Geun-hye and YooSeong-min, the now former ruling party parliamentary floor leader.

The article suggested that some foreign diplomats basically didn’t have a clue why Park and Yoo were fighting because they assumed that since the two leading politicians were from the same party, they would naturally cooperate on pursuing the same government policies.

Such an attitude may be understandable, but it ignores the fact that much of Korean politics is driven by personal ambitions rather than by issues or ideology. The Korean media understands this. Its political coverage normally focuses on who’s up and who’s down, with little attempt to explain the underlying political context. No wonder foreign diplomats are perplexed.

But the Park-Yoo feud was significant for several reasons. One was that it represented a last-ditch attempt by Park to prevent herself being permanently consigned to lame duck status as she entered the third year of her presidency. Already battered by public criticism over her administration’s handling of the Seowl ferry sinking and the recent MERS outbreak, her popularity ratings have fallen to near-record lows.

This represented an opportunity for her opponents within the ruling Saenuri party to challenge her. Like most Korean political parties, Saenuri is split into factions whose division can be traced back to the split between Park and former president Lee Myung-bak in 2007.

The parliamentary revolt led by Yoo threatened to derail her legislative agenda since the party floor leader effectively serves as the party whip and lead negotiator on legislation with the opposition.

Many Saenuri Party lawmakers have sought to distance themselves from the unpopular Park as they prepare for parliamentary elections in April 2016. This was reflected in the fact that Kim Moo-sung, seen as a Park opponent, was elected as Saenuri party chairman last year followed by the election of Yoo as party floor leader in February. Moreover, Kim and Yoo have been motivated by their own presidential ambitions as they gear up for the 2017 elections to the Blue House.

The crunch point between Park and Yoo came when the later supported a proposal that would give the National Assembly greater power to amend presidential decrees and administrative directives. Although the proposal was approved by parliament last month, it was vetoed by Park, who called it “unconstitutional” and accused Yoo of “betraying” her.

This dispute highlights a more fundamental issue, that of the sharing of powers between the executive and legislative branches of the Korean government. There has long been criticism that the presidential powers are too strong under the current system, a criticism that has recently received renewed support because of perceptions of Park’s authoritarian tendencies.

They has been support within the Saenuri Party for a French-style system of government, where the prime minister would assume more power over domestic affairs while the president would focus on defence and foreign affairs, and the legislature would have a greater say in nominating cabinet members and constitutional judges.

President Park may have a point in resisting the handover of more authority to the National Assembly, which has had a dismal record of effective governance. A World Economic Forum survey of local executives last year found that Korea was ranked 113th in the perceived effectiveness of parliament as a law-making institution. One reason is that policy formation in the National Assembly takes a back seat to political cliques jostling for power.

But Park has shown herself to be an inept leader as she helped create a power vacuum. She has gained a widespread reputation for being stubborn in her beliefs and refusing to listen to those opposed her views, which is another reason for the growing opposition to her within the Saenuri Party. She has lacked the ability to persuade, communicate or compromise even with members of her own party, which is essential in getting any of her proposed economic structural reforms through parliament.

For the moment, Park has managed to stave off defeat. Her veto of the controversial legislation giving the National Assembly greater power to amend administrative decrees was upheld by lawmakers and Yoo was forced to resign as a result.

But this may prove to be a Pyrrhic victory. The president has further damaged her reputation as a result of the power struggle with Yoo, confirming the view of many that she is too autocratic. Park can only save her administration by adopting a new, more consultative style and actively taking steps to improve cooperation and communications. But based on past form, the chances of that happening appear to be slim.

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.