ed Denying 'Hell Joseon'

President lacks compassion toward people’s hardships

The Liberation Day presidential speech has routinely been an occasion for the President to share a vision for unification and comment on the situation in Northeast Asia.

In her fourth Liberation Day speech, President Park Geun-hye tried to become a messenger of hope by stressing a can-do spirit, recalling the “proud history” of nation-building and economic leap after liberation from Japanese rule.

Her message of optimism did not penetrate with the people because she showed no remorse about her own failures in addressing their hardships. In this regard, Park should take a lesson or two from U.S. President Barack Obama, a phenomenal speaker who has underlined hope in many of his speeches. His latest was at the Democratic National Convention to nominate Hillary Clinton as the first female presidential nominee of a major U.S. party.

The reason President Obama’s Democratic National Convention speech was so compelling was that it contained words of reflection on his shortcomings. In the marquee speech at the DNC, Obama said “my time in this office hasn’t fixed everything.” His speech was moving because he paid tribute to the people, saying “time and again, you’ve picked me up. I hope, sometimes, I picked you up, too.” The sincerity and humble tone was why his message of “hope in the face of difficulty; hope in the face of uncertainty” was deeply moving.

In contrast, Park only angered the public with her message by showing an absence of sympathy toward the hardships many Koreans face in their lives.

She showed resentment toward the widespread use of newly-coined terms reflecting the hardships of life in Korea. She was referring to terms like “Hell Joseon” or the “gold spoon/earth spoon” dichotomy for describing the widening social gap. She said that such expressions “deny Korea’s great contemporary history and degrade Korea, which is the envy of the world, into a nation of hard living.” She stressed that putting oneself down and being pessimistic cannot bring change or development and called on the nation to revive the “spirit of challenge and optimism” that had been the driving force of Korea’s growth.

Rather than criticizing the spread of these words, she needs to think in earnest about why such terms have been created. These terms became popular during her term in office because Koreans have become unhappier.

From the ordinary people’s perspective, life has become harder in the last few years she has been President. Taxes have soared while income has remained stagnant. Korea’s young adults are suffering one of the worst youth unemployment crises. The nation’s elderly are at the top of poverty index among OECD countries. Koreans are working the longest hours among OECD countries, leaving little room for self-development and leisure. Due to economic instability among young adults, more Koreans are shunning marriage and giving birth, resulting in one of the lowest birthrates in the world. All in all, Koreans are unhappy and that is why many people call this country “Hell Joseon.”

The use of these terms shows that the people are not happier or more prosperous than when she arrived at Cheong Wa Dae. A responsible leader will admit her or his faults and encourage the people.

It is true that virtues such as optimism are missing in today’s Koreans, particularly among the young and the elderly who are worried about their livelihoods. The right thing for the President to do is to show more compassion toward them rather than scold them for being cynical.