(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Feb. 25)

Make a fresh start

President Lee Myung-bak enters the second year of his administration today with
few satisfying achievements and too many tasks to carry out over the next four
years. After a tiring first 365 days, however, the CEO-turned president looks as
energetic as ever and is appealing to the people to share his confidence about
the future.
The rosy "747" campaign pledge to make the Republic of Korea one of the seven
richest nations of the world has become the butt of jokes. Now the president is
making more promises of magic to bring the nation out of the worldwide economic
crisis faster than any other country. Koreans, known for their can-do spirit, are
anxious to perform a miracle again. Yet, not many people are willing to follow
the president's lead, as his 30-odd percent approval rating indicates.
Still, Cheong Wa Dae sees signs of hope: the rating itself is a significant rise
from its low of below 20 percent during the U.S. beef import turmoil last summer.
After a turbulent six months during which Korea's externally oriented economy was
battered by the financial crisis, the market began to respond positively to
government policies on foreign exchange, real estate and fiscal appropriation.
Labor has shown restraint and joined in a declaration of peace with management,
civic groups and government.
A fragile peace is in place between opposing political forces following violent
clashes in the National Assembly late last year over the budget and the
government's legislation plans. Confrontation looks likely to resume at any time
the administration and the ruling party push for the deregulation of media
ownership and conglomerate finances. But moderation and compromise could be
expected under the watchful eyes of the people and the adverse economic and
security situations.
North Korea's continuing provocative actions, after a series of verbal threats of
a devastating war, are about to culminate in the test-firing of a long-range
missile. As the relations between the two Koreas deteriorated, with Pyongyang
overreacting to the new Seoul government's uncompromising posture, activities of
pro-North leftist groups in the South became subdued. The North's nuclear saber
rattling has the effect of alerting and consolidating society in the South.
Feb. 25, 2008 brought high expectations for the new president who earned the
largest margin of victory in decades, amounting to 4.8 million votes, to end 10
years of liberal rule. But the overwhelming mandate allowed the president and his
aides to become arrogant. They dubbed the preceding administrations as "the lost
10 years." Soon, blunders in high-level government appointments quickly reduced
public trust in the new government.
The president was anxious to reinforce the alliance with the United States, which
he saw as being in tatters because of his predecessor's pursuit of independent
diplomacy. Prior to his official visit to Washington in April, the long,
drawn-out beef import negotiations with the United States were settled in Seoul.
Protests about consumer health developed into massive anti-Lee demonstrations,
joined by the political left. President Lee apologized to the people twice for
his administration's failure to pay attention to public sentiment. Changes to the
original terms helped mitigate the protests by the early summer.
Over the past year, President Lee has concentrated much of his efforts into
diplomacy, particularly with the four powers involved with the Korean Peninsula.
He held as many as 16 summit talks with the leaders of the United States, China,
Japan and Russia. Strategic partnerships were confirmed, with these nations
vowing political and economic cooperation. These proved to be true, resulting in
such measures as currency swaps to weather the difficulties from the global
financial crisis.
Regarding North Korea, the president maintained his campaign platform to provide
large-scale aid in return for denuclearization and economic openness. The
position remained unaltered throughout the past year, and the architect of this
piece of policy was recently named minister of unification.
Upon taking office, Minister Hyun In-taek said he regarded the summit
declarations with North Korea on June 15, 2000, and Oct. 4, 2007, as mere
political declarations. He pointed out that they had not been ratified by the
National Assembly here. It was by far the most direct challenge to Pyongyang's
absolute evaluation of the two inter-Korean documents signed by Presidents Kim
Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. With this hardline stance, a thaw in South-North
relations looks unlikely. President Lee's trademark pragmatism calls for
flexibility on this issue.
On the socioeconomic front, the Lee administration should consistently push ahead
with its major policy goals, beyond fighting the current crisis. The "green
growth" program - including the development of the four major rivers - the
improvement of public corporations, financial deregulation, corporate
restructuring and educational reform need unswerving administrative
determination.
The four years left for President Lee is long enough to ensure real change if he
steers the government toward humble and effective communication with the people.
But time will quickly pass away if conflicting ideologies and interests keep the
nation in a confrontational mode while the leader fails to adjust, clinging to
policies alienated from the real needs of the people. This is what the nation
witnessed during the past year.
The new power holders in Seoul must have learned from their own mistakes and the
president should by now have realized how leading a nation is different from
managing a company or running a city. Armed with this knowledge, the Lee
administration is called on to exhibit refined statecraft taking the right course
of national advancement based on Korea's unique history, culture and public
mindset. He should avoid turning to the right or left.
(END)