A new start

Cosmetic changes would result in greater setbacks

In the wake of the election defeat, the governing camp is undergoing deep soul-searching amid the prevalent doom and gloom. A Cheong Wa Dae official said Friday, however, ``Self-reflection and administrative overhaul should not necessarily lead to a personnel shakeup," probably reflecting how President Lee Myung-bak sees the situation.

We can hardly agree more ― albeit for different reasons.

Above all, President Lee and his Grand National Party should not regard the result of the June 2 local elections as a crushing defeat, as most political watchers and media outlets describe it. The GNP won six out of the 16 races for metropolitan mayor and provincial governor, compared with the 2006 polls in which the then governing party of former President Roh Moo-hyun lost in all but one province.

If the conservative party thinks the outcome is so humiliating a setback, that is only because it came despite the one-sided support from all ``mainstream" news media ― the two public broadcasters and the three largest newspapers ― and even from North Korea ― by raising tensions.

But the real reason Lee won't need to replace senior officials in his government and party is all this manpower overhaul would go nowhere unless the President changes his own policy and philosophy. Period.

If Lee changes aides, he is of course not the first chief executive who will pass the buck in Korea's empirical presidential system.

This time, however, the President should go way further than this superficial reform, and reflect the voters' voices on his key policies, especially on the reversal of the administrative capital plan and river-dredging project. Even if Lee sticks to his ideas and style in these controversial projects, many new mayors and governors will not cooperate with him, only aggravating the political standoff and splitting the whole nation wider apart.

The President must either start over on his pet projects or at least slow down the process. It is very regrettable in this regard Lee hinted at pushing ahead with core policies regardless of the election outcome.

Looking back, President Lee's overconfident administrative drive resulted from his election victory by the widest margin of 5 million votes over his opponent Chung Dong-young two and a half years ago. Actually, however, Lee won support from barely more than one third of population considering the record-low turnout then, with even 500,000 ballots fewer than his predecessor Roh.

Even now, too, the President might have strong confidence in his approval rating that hovers around 50 percent, propelled in large part by robust economic growth and the resultant escape from the global recession, which raised Korea's international standing and helped the nation to be named as host of a G-20 summit. But President Lee should learn at least one lesson from the latest elections: Nothing is more fragile ― even deceiving ― than the survey figures, especially when an overwhelming majority of voters find the GDP growth hardly improves their day-to-day living.

If the President realizes what the real problems and solutions are, the recent polls can be a mixed blessing two years later. If not, he is watching a preview of a political disaster.