A dictator’s daughter or a CEO?

Posted by admin on Mar 21, 2007 in Volume 14 Issue 1 | 0 comments

Amidst a faltering United States-South Korean alliance and economic failure, South Korea will hold its presidential election on Dec. 19, 2007. The two front-runners in the upcoming election, Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, both belong to the opposition Grand National Party, which is conservative. Due to North Korea’s recent nuclear crisis and economic deficits, Koreans’ expectations of their new leaders are running high, and the candidates, as usual, are making a lot of promises.

Park Geun-hye is the daughter of South Korea’s most infamous military dictator, Park Chung Hee. Although Chung Hee was a dictator, he is remembered as a charismatic leader who modernized South Korea. Due to South Korea’s current economic difficulties, a significant number of Koreans are reminiscing about the dictator’s leadership. And Geun-hye is taking full advantage of her father’s image as a good economic leader.

As the former leader of the opposition party, Guen-hye has enough experience to run for president, but her father’s image could be an advantage or liability. In Korean politics, Geun-hye’s father is still a polarizing figure; some remember him as a leader who advanced the economy, while others remember him as a ruthless dictator who killed many innocent people.

According to a poll conducted by a South Korean newspaper, Myung-bak has a 42.2 per cent approval rating, whereas Geun-hye has 26 per cent. Myung-bak was mayor of Seoul between 2002 and 2006, and he appeals to a broad range of Koreans because of his image as a man of the people. He also has great credentials, including his position as former CEO of Hyundai.

One of Myung-bak’s greatest strengths is that he is seen as having abandoned ideologies. Because South Korea is still being directly affected by the Cold War, a candidate’s ideology plays an important role. Myung-bak has chosen practicality over any ideology. Many Koreans believe that his experience as a CEO is an asset that could make South Korea’s economy prosperous once again. However, the politics and economics of a nation are far broader and more difficult than those involved in running a company.

When one looks at the presidential history of South Korea, it is not all that glorious. The first president of South Korea resigned from the office after a bloody student revolution. The second president was forced to abdicate because of the coup d’état led by General Chung Hee, who served five terms despite facing countless violent protests, mostly led by students. Chung Hee was assassinated in 1979. The fourth president was also forced to abdicate from power because of a coup d’état led by General Chun Doohwan, who served two terms. During the late 1990s, Doohwan, along with his successor Taewoo Roh, was charged with corruption. The court sentenced them to death, but the sentence was never carried out. The current president, Roh Moohyun, has not been in office long enough to be evaluated. The history of the South Korean presidency is filled with presidents who left office in disgrace.

It is impossible to say whether or not the victor of the upcoming election can revive South Korea. But one thing is certain: they will not have magical solutions to the problems Korea faces.