Internet rocked over coast guard disbanding

President Park Geun-hye shows tears during Monday's announcement./Yonhap

By Kim Tong-hyung

President Park Geun-hye’s solution to every difficult problem seems simple ― when there is a headache, cut off the head.

A presidential spokesman grabs the buttocks of an intern, so no more female interns on presidential trips. College students die after a building collapses during their freshmen orientation, so say goodbye to freshmen orientations.

High school field trips were declared a bad idea because hundreds of students just died after a ferry sank on its way to Jeju Island.

And since the country’s coast guard did a lamentable job at rescuing these students from the submerging ship, Park appeared on live television on Monday and told the nation she will disband the coast guard.

Park, who announced the move after saying she accepted responsibility for last month’s tragedy, slammed the coast guard for failing to carry out an effective rescue operation.

The coastguard’s investigation and information roles will be transferred to police and the rescue and maritime security roles to a department for national safety which will be newly established, she said.

Park’s decision to dismantle the coas tguard touched off a firestorm on online message boards and social media. Among the more opinionated were youngsters who were preparing for state exams to enter the coast guard, some of which had been scheduled for none other than Tuesday.

Immediately after Park’s speech, the coast guard said it will be delaying the tests, leaving would-be exam takers in disarray.

“What do you mean disband the coast guard? The test is tomorrow,’’ said a user on the online message board for coast guard exam-takers.

“So will they recruit new people or not in the second half?’’ wondered another.

Park’s shock announcement on Monday was the latest occasion where she seemed to be imagining herself as a deus ex machina, popping up in difficult situations and sorting them out with extraordinary powers.

Her presidency has so far been characterized by moments when the process of debate was replaced by an arbitrary and overweening exercise of power ― something many would agree is inappropriate for a democratic society.

None of such moments, however, had been as dramatic as declaring to push the delete button on the six-decade-old coast guard.

Critics questioned why Park was quick to pull the trigger on the coast guard when the prosecution is still in the midst of its investigation on what went wrong with the rescue operation and to what degree the coast guard should be put at fault.

Others wondered whether Park felt the urgency to do something dramatic ahead of the June 4 local elections with the public support for her Saenuri Party starting to rattle.

“I really don’t understand that the president can make a decision ― just within weeks ― to eliminate a state department that has been operating for more than 60 years. This is exactly the rough-and-ready decision-making process that bred the environment for major accidents to happen,’’ Hong Sung-soo, a law professor at Sookmyung Women’s University, wrote on his Facebook wall.

“While the president must show willingness for reform, Park should have shown commitment to work with opposition politicians, experts and civic leaders to discuss ways to build a better process. Dismantling the coast guard and announcing the launching of a new national safety department is not a way you push the reform of a nation’s administrative system.’’

Twitter user Earl (@suyurikim) was more sarcastic.

"At least in Park's mind, that was a very logical decision. I mean, the sea did a bad thing, but it's not like you can dismantle the sea.''