By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
A series of policy stances announced by the presidential transition team hinted that the incoming Lee Myung-bak government is likely to have an ABR (Anything But Roh) policy in managing the economy.
In addition, the incoming administration's policies will also be distinctive in government structure, foreign policy and education.
Commenting that the differentiation strategy is nothing new, Professor Kim Choong-nam of the East-West Center in Honolulu, the U.S., said the strategy has been widely used in previous administrations.
Kim said that presidents in Korea ``delegitimized their predecessors and failed to learn from their predecessors'' in his book, titled ``The Korean Presidents,'' published in 2007.
``Each new President thinks that he is not going to stumble or fall and that his government will change everything the previous administration did,'' Kim said.
Economic policy is the area illustrating a stark contrast in policy stance between the pro-business Lee Myung-bak administration and the pro-working class Roh Moo-hyun government.
President-elect Lee reiterated his team would ease regulations prohibiting businesses from owning banks.
The Roh administration expanded the regulations after he took office in early 2003.
President-elect Lee wondered on Tuesday how the economy could have come this far, given pervasive regulations controlling business activities.
``I think Koreans and Korean businesses would be doing a lot better than now if the government had not set up stumbling blocks. I plan to let them forge ahead without such difficulties,'' Lee said.
Government reorganization is another area demonstrating the opposing views of the Roh and Lee administrations.
The transition team said last week it would abolish or merge over 50 percent of presidential and government committees. The number of them has sharply increased under the incumbent administration.
The team submitted a government downsizing plan to the National Assembly on Monday, which will reduce the number of ministries from the current 18 to 13 if the proposal gets approved by the National Assembly.
Incoming President Lee said he was going to be more ambitious but his intent met limitations set by the Constitution stipulating the government should have 15 Cabinet members at least.
The next government's foreign policy posture toward the four powers also illustrates a stark difference.
Lee told foreign correspondents last week that he would not repeatedly ask the Japanese government to make a public apology for past affairs.
Instead, he said he would seek a proactive foreign policy with Tokyo.
His remarks caused the pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP) to accuse him of making inappropriate comments.
Lee's stance on Japan is considered a drastic change from that of Roh.
The incumbent said in March last year that the Japanese government should respect historical truth and take follow up measures to back up its sincere attitude.
The next government's desire to set a stronger Korea-U.S. alliance is another critical area of contrast.
Rep. Chung Mong-joon, the President-elect's special envoy to the U.S., said a letter, which he is scheduled to deliver to U.S. President George W. Bush, contained the new President's desire to build stronger diplomatic ties with the U.S.
Lee said he would work closely with the US in resolving the North Korean nuclear programs, repeating his stance of denuclearization before economic assistance to Pyongyang.
Roh has put emphasis on improving inter-Korean relations, maintaining a strong engagement policy toward the North.
The President-elect also underscored competition among schools and teachers to improve the quality of public education.
The incumbent has put more emphasis on equality than competition in education.