By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
Lee Myung-bak has many ideas for making South Korea wealthier and stronger.
Voters staked their hopes on his CEO-style leadership and pledges to achieve higher economic growth, giving him a landslide election victory in December.
He promised tax cuts, deregulations, public sector and education reforms, a pragmatic approach in enhancing ties with the United States and a mammoth project to build a canal through the Korean Peninsula.
He told voters the country can achieve 7-percent growth per annum and a per capita income of $40,000 and become one of the top seven economic powers in the world through such measures.
With less than 110 days in office, Lee is now reassessing the campaign pledges and is about to say, ``Sorry. It is not possible to achieve the goals.''
The governing Grand National Party (GNP) indicated Wednesday that it may put Lee's key election pledges on the backburner and instead pay more attention to policies aimed at improving living conditions for ordinary people.
``Rising inflationary pressure and growing current account deficit are hampering the economy. It makes it tougher for people to live a better life,'' GNP chief policymaker Yim Tae-hee said. ``We have to reassess policy priorities and check whether the economy is going in the right direction.''
Some changes are already in the making.
Amid rising anti-government protests, sparked by Lee's decision to resume American beef imports, the embattled head of state hinted that he may abandon the canal project. Reports showed the government launched secret programs to start the construction despite concerns about the potential damage on the environment.
``If people don't want the canal, I will quit the project,'' Lee said Tuesday at a meeting with religious leaders.
Observers say some of Lee's policies will help enhance national competitiveness. However, the public, disappointed by his way of governing and his ``growth first, distribution later'' policies, are tending to boycott all of his ideas.
``The problem is that he is not a popular president any more,'' said Kim Jong-gul, a professor of international studies at Hanyang University in Seoul.
The Lee administration is currently pursuing a drastic reform of the country's 298 public firms to turn them into more efficient and profit-oriented organizations. It has mapped out plans to privatize state-run enterprises, including three state owned entities ― the Korea Land Corp., the Korea National Housing Corp., and the Korea Housing Finance Corp.
``The privatization program is the centerpiece of Lee's economic reform. However, it will be difficult for him to implement the plan under the current situation,'' Kim said.
Lee had pledged to reduce corporate income taxes and investment rules for companies to help businesses find more business opportunities and create jobs, which he believed will lead to strengthening of the country's growth potential. He now faces criticism that such policies will only benefit large enterprises.
Also in question is his stance on North Korea.
Critics have argued Lee is simply toeing the U.S. line in dealing with the communist regime.
Lee has virtually dropped the decade-long ``Sunshine Policy'' of engaging North Korea and, at his Camp David summit with George W. Bush in April, promised a tougher stance on it based on a strong alliance with the U.S.
The North called Lee a ``traitor,'' and inter-Korean projects agreed by the two Koreas have come to a complete standstill.
``Lee is going in the wrong direction in handling North Korea,'' charged Rep. Park Ji-won, who played an important role in achieving the first inter-Korean summit in 2000. ``The North will try to isolate the South as it did before the era of Kim Dae-jung, and the South will gain nothing.''