By Oh Young-jin
The May 9 election of Moon Jae-in as president was a Korean version of Brexit.
It was a two-stage affair. The first was about candlelit protests that ousted Moon's predecessor, Park Geun-hye. The second was Moon's election.
The candlelit protests showed the masses were in charge. Millions of people demonstrated for weeks. They demanded Park be impeached and removed from office.
Park was the lightning rod of ordinary people's dissatisfaction with the power class.
Allegations against Park were the illegal delegation of presidential powers to her private friend, Choi Soon-sil, and the extortion of billions of won from chaebol. The protests forced the National Assembly to pass an impeachment motion against Park, Dec. 9, 2016.
The protests served as a trigger but masked the real reasons for her impeachment.
The reasons were an imbalance in income, lack of upward mobility and social injustice.
Then, March 10, the Constitutional Court voted 8-0 to have Park removed as president.
Then came the May election. Moon won 41 percent of the vote, a plurality.
It's not an absolute majority but a big number. The runner-up conservative Liberty Korea Party candidate Hong Joon-pyo won 25 percent and the third-place centrist People's Party's Ahn Cheol-soo won 21 percent.
Moon became the people's leader for reasons. The candlelit protests were a liberal movement. Moon is a liberal leader. And the people were anxious for Moon to fill the power vacuum left by Park's ouster.
Upon taking office, President Moon introduced many liberal policies. The conservative media have been criticizing Moon. But he remains unscathed. His approval ratings are strong.
Here are some statistics.
Let's start with the conversion of irregular workers' status to regular workers.
On May 12, three days after his election, Moon visited Incheon International Airport and promised to make all 10,000 irregular workers there regular workers.
During the campaign, Moon pledged to save all irregular workers in the public sector.
Workers in the private sector are calling for the same treatment.
The Chosun Ilbo, a major vernacular newspaper, criticized President Moon with four editorials.
The May 15 editorial warned Moon not to try and become Santa Claus on account of the taxpayers.
The May 26 editorial raises an issue over the government's attempt to penalize firms for hiring too many irregular workers.
The May 27 editorial chided Moon for snubbing the Korea Employers Federation for expressing opposition to his plan.
The May 29 editorial objected to the government blaming chaebol for using irregular status workers.
The conservative media's concerted efforts to discredit Moon failed.
The Gallup Korea poll from June 6 to 8 showed Moon enjoyed an 84 percent job approval rating, the highest in history. The previous high was in March 1993 for President Kim Young-sam.
Another case is Moon's declaration for the phase-out of nuclear power plants.
On June 19, Moon announced the permanent closure of the Gori 1 nuclear power plant.
The government decided not to refurbish and extend the life of 11 of 24 existing power plants.
The conservative Donga Ilbo newspaper had three editorials against Moon's plan.
First, it criticized Moon for using a civic committee to decide whether to stop the construction of two nuclear reactors _ Shingori 5 and 6. Second, it called Moon hypocritical for hiding behind the committee.
Third, it urged the committee not to rubber stamp Moon's stance.
The Gallup poll from June 20 to 22 showed Moon's approval rating at 79 percent.
The third case is the 2018 minimum wage.
On July 17, it was decided to raise the minimum wage by 16.4 percent from this year to 7,350 won, $6.50.
Moon has promised to raise the wage to 10,000 won before the end of his term.
The right of center Joongang Ilbo and other newspapers editorialized their opposition.
They claimed it would make a big dent in the economy. Small businesses would go bankrupt en masse. Young and vulnerable part-time workers would suffer the most.
Still, Moon's approval rating held. The Gallup Korea poll from July 18 to 20 showed 74 percent approved.
Here is the case of Moon's July 29 THAAD deployment decision after North Korea's second supposed ICBM test launch
This decision satisfied the conservatives but alienated his liberal support base. Still, the Aug. 1 to 3 Gallup Korea poll showed Moon's approval rating at 77 percent.
From these cases, I conclude as follows.
1. The public trust in the mass media is damaged. People think the media have become part of vested interests and no longer reflect their side of the story.
2. The mass media face the choice between revival and marginalization.
3. The mass media's revival is even more important now when political institutions have lost relevance. In the Aug. 1 to 3 Gallup poll, approval ratings for the opposition parties were low. The Liberty Korea Party had 11 percent; the Bareun Party, 10 percent; and the Justice Party and People's Party, 6 percent each.
4. Finally, if the mass media fail to regain their role of watchdog, it could mean letting the Moon government set its own agenda and pursue it at its own leisure -- becoming something similar to a populist dictatorship. The danger is the Moon government is forming a direct partnership with the people with the media being shoved out of the loop. Even though President Moon has worked with conscience, this direct partnership may free him from accountability. Even power with the best intentions would corrupt absolutely when given the chance.
This column is an edited version of a speech the writer made at the Asia Democracy Research Network Seoul Forum hosted by the East Asia Institute in Seoul last week. Contact him at foolsdie5@ktimes.com and foolsdie@gmail.com.
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It was a two-stage affair. The first was about candlelit protests that ousted Moon's predecessor, Park Geun-hye. The second was Moon's election.
The candlelit protests showed the masses were in charge. Millions of people demonstrated for weeks. They demanded Park be impeached and removed from office.
Park was the lightning rod of ordinary people's dissatisfaction with the power class.
Allegations against Park were the illegal delegation of presidential powers to her private friend, Choi Soon-sil, and the extortion of billions of won from chaebol. The protests forced the National Assembly to pass an impeachment motion against Park, Dec. 9, 2016.
The protests served as a trigger but masked the real reasons for her impeachment.
The reasons were an imbalance in income, lack of upward mobility and social injustice.
Then, March 10, the Constitutional Court voted 8-0 to have Park removed as president.
Then came the May election. Moon won 41 percent of the vote, a plurality.
It's not an absolute majority but a big number. The runner-up conservative Liberty Korea Party candidate Hong Joon-pyo won 25 percent and the third-place centrist People's Party's Ahn Cheol-soo won 21 percent.
Moon became the people's leader for reasons. The candlelit protests were a liberal movement. Moon is a liberal leader. And the people were anxious for Moon to fill the power vacuum left by Park's ouster.
Upon taking office, President Moon introduced many liberal policies. The conservative media have been criticizing Moon. But he remains unscathed. His approval ratings are strong.
Here are some statistics.
Let's start with the conversion of irregular workers' status to regular workers.
On May 12, three days after his election, Moon visited Incheon International Airport and promised to make all 10,000 irregular workers there regular workers.
During the campaign, Moon pledged to save all irregular workers in the public sector.
Workers in the private sector are calling for the same treatment.
The Chosun Ilbo, a major vernacular newspaper, criticized President Moon with four editorials.
The May 15 editorial warned Moon not to try and become Santa Claus on account of the taxpayers.
The May 26 editorial raises an issue over the government's attempt to penalize firms for hiring too many irregular workers.
The May 27 editorial chided Moon for snubbing the Korea Employers Federation for expressing opposition to his plan.
The May 29 editorial objected to the government blaming chaebol for using irregular status workers.
The conservative media's concerted efforts to discredit Moon failed.
The Gallup Korea poll from June 6 to 8 showed Moon enjoyed an 84 percent job approval rating, the highest in history. The previous high was in March 1993 for President Kim Young-sam.
Another case is Moon's declaration for the phase-out of nuclear power plants.
On June 19, Moon announced the permanent closure of the Gori 1 nuclear power plant.
The government decided not to refurbish and extend the life of 11 of 24 existing power plants.
The conservative Donga Ilbo newspaper had three editorials against Moon's plan.
First, it criticized Moon for using a civic committee to decide whether to stop the construction of two nuclear reactors _ Shingori 5 and 6. Second, it called Moon hypocritical for hiding behind the committee.
Third, it urged the committee not to rubber stamp Moon's stance.
The Gallup poll from June 20 to 22 showed Moon's approval rating at 79 percent.
The third case is the 2018 minimum wage.
On July 17, it was decided to raise the minimum wage by 16.4 percent from this year to 7,350 won, $6.50.
Moon has promised to raise the wage to 10,000 won before the end of his term.
The right of center Joongang Ilbo and other newspapers editorialized their opposition.
They claimed it would make a big dent in the economy. Small businesses would go bankrupt en masse. Young and vulnerable part-time workers would suffer the most.
Still, Moon's approval rating held. The Gallup Korea poll from July 18 to 20 showed 74 percent approved.
Here is the case of Moon's July 29 THAAD deployment decision after North Korea's second supposed ICBM test launch
This decision satisfied the conservatives but alienated his liberal support base. Still, the Aug. 1 to 3 Gallup Korea poll showed Moon's approval rating at 77 percent.
From these cases, I conclude as follows.
1. The public trust in the mass media is damaged. People think the media have become part of vested interests and no longer reflect their side of the story.
2. The mass media face the choice between revival and marginalization.
3. The mass media's revival is even more important now when political institutions have lost relevance. In the Aug. 1 to 3 Gallup poll, approval ratings for the opposition parties were low. The Liberty Korea Party had 11 percent; the Bareun Party, 10 percent; and the Justice Party and People's Party, 6 percent each.
4. Finally, if the mass media fail to regain their role of watchdog, it could mean letting the Moon government set its own agenda and pursue it at its own leisure -- becoming something similar to a populist dictatorship. The danger is the Moon government is forming a direct partnership with the people with the media being shoved out of the loop. Even though President Moon has worked with conscience, this direct partnership may free him from accountability. Even power with the best intentions would corrupt absolutely when given the chance.
This column is an edited version of a speech the writer made at the Asia Democracy Research Network Seoul Forum hosted by the East Asia Institute in Seoul last week. Contact him at foolsdie5@ktimes.com and foolsdie@gmail.com.
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