Outgoing Indian President Abdul Kalam's graceful retirement appears to have moved many Koreans as they have scarcely seen respectable presidents in their modern history. Many Indian newspapers like The Times of India reported Kalam has lived a very frugal and stoic life during his stay in power since 2002 and has left the presidential palace with only two bags of luggage and some bundles of books.
Kalam, regarded as the father of India's nuclear missile program, has dedicated himself to developing India through promotion of science and technology. We extend our warm hands to Kalam for his endeavors over the past years and congratulate Pratibha Devisingh Pati, who was elected Saturday as India's first female president, succeeding Kalam. Respect for leaders comes only when they keep promises with the people. We believe the reason Indian people respect Kalam is because he has faithfully abided by what he initially pledged.
It is regrettable, however, to see President Roh Moo-hyun, again, break his pledge with the people, further distancing himself from them. Roh underlined the need to relocate even the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae and the National Assembly to the envisioned administrative town in Yeongi-Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, during a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the new city Friday.
Roh's disparaging plan to introduce a special law to set up a new capital was ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in October 2004. The court later sanctioned the plan as constitutional, only after it was revised by way of moving only 49 government offices from the original 245. Roh lamented that it is very unreasonable to see the administrative town dwindle with Cheong Wa Dae, the National Assembly and many other government agencies remaining in Seoul.
It has been a global trend that major cities around the world tend to expand their size as a means of strengthening their competitiveness. Seoul is now bracing for competition with gigantic cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Osaka. Seoul has yet to take measures to sharpen its competitive edge with regard to attracting Asian headquarters of multinational enterprises with only a total of 11, compared to 1,167 for Hong Kong and 350 for Singapore as of the end of 2005.
It is not the first time that Roh trampled on the Constitution. He criticized the National Election Commission for having warned him on election law violations and filed a constitutional suit against a ruling that prevents the head of state from engaging in electioneering. Roh swore he would do what he can to protect the Constitution, which was a solemn pledge toward the people.
It seems Roh's recent statements of ignoring the Constitution have been designed to attract support from Chungcheong provincial residents for the governing camp ahead of the presidential election in December. Roh cynically commented that presidential contenders have been silent over the issue. We urge Roh to refrain from further smearing the nation's Constitution and to do the right thing to retain the people's reputation, while earnestly learning lessons from India's former President Kalam. Rather than pursuing further political greed, he is asked to ponder future national interests in a humble manner.