Next president, not 19th but 12th!
By Kwon Yule-jung
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The presidential election is just around the corner following the final impeachment judgment by the Constitutional Court. The election is to be held on May 9. The next president is to be called the 19th.
Koreans and foreigners alike may think that there are 18 former presidents including the disgraced lady president in modern Korea. However, there are only 11 including Park Geun-hye. Unlike the United States, Korea's presidency order relies on election terms.
As a result, the first Syngman Rhee spanned three periods of the presidency and the third president Park Chung-hee five from the 5th to 9th, and the actual fifth president Chun Doo-hwan is the 11th and 12th “president.” Except for those three former presidents with plural election terms, the other 8 have served only one term of presidency.
The presidency order of the United States, which is the typical standard of presidential systems, with a 238 year long history, is based on the order of presidents themselves. The 69 year long presidential history of Korea may catch up with the States in terms of presidential order in the years to come. The recently inaugurated Donald Trump is the 45th president. However, it is not true that there have been 45 presidents in the U.S. list of presidents. It is 44. There is one president with two non-consecutive terms. He is Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th. Franklin D. Roosevelt is known as the four-term president. He is the 32nd president. The shortest working president is the 9th William Henry Harrison with only one month. He died of pneumonia on April 4 in 1841 just one month after he was inaugurated on March 4.
As shown above, Korea's presidential order is faulty according to global standards and common sense. It is very natural that those problems should be sorted out immediately. The upcoming president's election is not the 19th but definitely the 12th.
The writer is chief director of the Daejeon National Cemetery. Write to england6227@hanmail.net