Republic of Korea Quo Vadis?
Four years ago in 2017, I wrote a column titled “Quo Vadis Korea” about the then commotion and trouble we Koreans were experiencing following the National Assembly impeachment of then President Park Geun-hye over the corruption and cronyism scandal dubbed “Choi Soon-sil gate.”
I wrote, “I am afraid the Republic of Korea may be drifting quickly toward the shameful times of 71 years ago in 1946 when an ‘all or nothing’ confrontation between the left and right forces split the people in a grave social chaos.”
At that time, the rivals confronted each other through respective street protests over whether to accept or reject the trusteeship by the United States and the Soviet Union, thus eventually leading to national division in 1948 and North Korea’s invasion of the South provoking the 1951-53 Korean War, called by South Koreans the “June 25 War.”
The embattled President Park finally lost her job after the Constitutional Court approved the impeachment and Moon Jae-in from the left wing won the ensuing presidential election to become the successor of the disgraced Park in May 2017.
Unfortunately, however, a very similar phenomenon is again sweeping the whole country since Moon took power and placed top priority on policies to wipe out the so-called “deep-rooted evils of the past.”
The ruling forces’ unyielding attempt to embrace their supporters is only aggravating social division, notably between the ruling leftists and opposition rightists, formerly progressives and conservatives.
In the presidential office, President Moon is surrounded by student activists-turned-politicians who got their fame for their unswerving fight for democracy against the “military dictatorship” in 1980s. And he appears to have no thoughts about changing his policies, even if they are found to be wrong.
Their pro-North Korea stance is contributing to isolating their Republic of Korea increasingly in the international arena, estranging the nation from its longtime allies, notably the United States.
They seem to have a firm confidence that North Korea’s Kim Jongun will give up his nuclear bombs, although Kim has not the slightest idea of discarding the deadly weapon of mass destruction.
A housing shortage and unemployment have already surged to become a serious social evil thanks to the lack of appropriate and effective policies, while the people have been and still are suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic since early 2020.
What’s more serious is the Moon government’s populism featuring “spending money like water” apparently to woo votes ahead of by-elections in the nation’s top two cities, Seoul and Busan, April 7, and next year’s presidential election slated for March 9.
Before the April by-elections, the government, under Moon’s initiative, is expected to release about 20 trillion won (about $18 billion) as “disaster relief fund” to help people battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Quite naturally, the Moon administration’s spending spree, backed by the magnificent force of Moon’s Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) on the floor, is flatly adding to the sharp increase in the national debt, which the next governments — whichever they are — will have to pay back.
While the ruling camp is wielding its mighty power on the floor, the opposition People Power Party (PPP)is literally incompetent, showing no clear signs yet of making an effort to put up a “unified candidate” from all the opposition forces in the by-election for Seoul mayor, which is certainly to play an important role in their skirmishing.
The PPP is helpless to check the ruling party and its government, only engaging in verbal wars through social media, in particular, as a weak minority party. Actually, many people worry over the “interim” leadership of Kim Chong-in, who was the top election campaigner and a lawmaker of the then opposition DPK in 2016.