(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Dec. 31) - Not unbearable

As the crisis-ridden year is coming to a close, the nation is feeling a widening
sense of relief rather than that of deep concern. It has apparently grown out of
a crisis that prevailed when the collapse of Lehman Brothers brought the entire
world into a tailspin in September last year.
President Lee Myung-bak's administration deserves due credit. It wasted no time
in cobbling up a stimulus package and executing it. The last thing the nation
wanted was the kind of financial meltdown it had experienced a decade ago.
It was a Herculean task to turn the nation around from the brinks of sovereign
bankruptcy. But Lee had to put on a bold face and orchestrate the job involving
not just government agencies but financial institutions. Reflecting on the past
year, he says, "I tried to look brighter and more optimistic than I really felt.
It was so hard that I felt as if I had a burning sensation in my heart."
The final tally has yet to come, but a consensus among government agencies and
research institutes is that the Korean economy has expanded this year, not
contracted as predicted earlier, overcoming the worst crisis since the Great
Depression. Now it is safe to say that the crisis is over, with the nation set to
recover the pre-crisis level of economic vitality next year.
Still better, leading Korean corporations have outperformed the Lee
administration. They include Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and the
Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group. They have turned the global financial crisis into a
blessing, expanding their market shares while their competitors are dithering.
Samsung, for instance, has emerged as the global electronics powerhouse,
upstaging Sony and other renowned Japanese corporations - an achievement
unimaginable at the turn of the century, if not later. Samsung's third-quarter
operating income showcased its prowess. It was larger than the combined total of
the nine largest Japanese electronics makers.
With the help of the brisk shipments of mobile handsets, semiconductors, autos,
display panels and other high-end products abroad, Korea has notched up in its
global ranking as an exporting county from 10th place to ninth place. Its global
market share is forecast to increase from 2.6 percent last year to 3.1 percent
this year.
True, the amount of exports has dropped by an estimated 13.9 percent from last
year to $363 billion. But that is not so bad when compared with the performances
of advanced exporting countries. Moreover, the trade surplus is expected to top
$42 billion this year, the largest ever.
The economic sector, however, has had one grave setback - a recovery that fails
to boost employment: Job creation undoubtedly lags behind a recovery. That is
apparently the reason why the administration created 332,000 jobs in the public
sector while exhorting the private sector to launch job-sharing programs and
providing subsidies for their internships and other job-related programs.
Nonetheless, the private sector has shed 323,000 jobs.
Despite the jobless recovery, few could dispute the Korean economy's outstanding
performance this year. Still better, its output is projected to grow 5 percent
next year.
In sharp contrast with such economic performance is the state of domestic
politics. The National Assembly has opened regular and extra sessions only to
witness a standoff. Compromise has had little currency, with the rival political
parties never ceasing to attack each other over the administration's four-river
restoration project, and its proposal to scrap a plan to build an administrative
town in South Chungcheong Province and, instead, to build a town as a home to
institutions of higher education and corporate laboratories.
Nor have inter-Korean relations fared any better. They plummeted to the lowest
level in recent years when North Korea launched a long-range missile in April and
conducted a nuclear test for the second time in May.
One of the worst developments in inter-Korean relations was the recent naval
conflict in the sea off the west coast. A South Korean naval vessel fired
hundreds of shots at a North Korean patrol boat, dealing severe damage to it,
when it ignored warning shots and crossed the de factor maritime border, the
Northern Limit Line, into the south. To the relief of both sides, the armed
conflict did not escalate to a higher level.
One praiseworthy effort made by South Korea is not to allow itself to be bullied
around by the North, as was often the case in the past. The South has not yielded
to North Korea's threats to nullify inter-Korean accords, including one on South
Korea's manufacturing of garments and other consumer products in an industrial
complex north of the Demilitarized Zone.
North Korea now appears to have adopted a policy of appeasement. It permits
business as usual in the Gaeseong industrial complex, though the South turned
down an earlier demand for a sharp increase in wages to North Korean workers. It
even engaged in secret negotiations on an inter-Korean summit.
In diplomacy, South Korea has been doing well. It has had little friction with
its sole military ally, the United States. Its relations with Japan have been
improving as well. It has been helping to strengthen intra-Asian relations as
well as bilateral relations with Asian countries. One notable diplomatic
achievement for this year is the $40 billion contract South Korea has recently
won from the United Arab Emirates to build commercial nuclear reactors - the
largest one ever awarded to South Korea.
Overall, 2009 has not been as bad as it could have been. Instead, it has been
made bearable, if not comfortable, thanks to notable efforts made by the
administration and corporations.
(END)