Daily News Editorial

Winds of change in South Korea

12 May 2017

South Korea has been going through a tumultuous period as a result of several political developments. South Koreans will hope that the worst will be behind them with the ushering in of their newly elected President Moon Jae-in (64). Moon ascended to the presidential seat due to a series of scandals that ousted his predecessor Park Geun Hye, the country’s first female President.

In the early autumn of last year, allegations surfaced that Park, a conservative and daughter of a former president, had used her influence as president to help a longtime friend named Choi Soon Sil acquire millions in ill-gotten donations from corporations.

Park was also beset by allegations that she had given Choi, someone with no known professional background or skills, access to classified government materials and had allowed Choi to dictate her government’s decisions.

The allegations spurred the most spirited protest movement South Korea has seen in decades. Large crowds flooded public squares across the country week after week calling for Park to step down. Park was removed from office in December 2016 and formally impeached by the Constitutional Court in March. She is currently in detention awaiting trial on bribery charges. Elections were inevitable once the country’s top court upheld the impeachment.

This was the most direct scenario that led to the election of Moon. While Park is the daughter of a former president, Moon is the son of a labourer and a former soldier turned human rights lawyer. Moon has a personal connection with North Korea, where his parents originally lived before fleeing during the Korean War in the early 1950s. Hence Moon has not concealed his intentions to forge a better relationship with the belligerent neighbour and if possible, to pay a visit across the border. North Korea has sent shockwaves around the world after conducting a series of nuclear and missile tests. If Moon can meet and drive reason into his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un, that will be a major triumph. The unification of the two Koreas is one of Moon’s ultimate goals, though no one can give a time period as peace looks a distant possibility right now.

Moon will also have to follow a carefully balanced foreign policy that takes into account the country’s special security relationship with the United States, while also being friendly with China, the country’s biggest trading partner accounting for US$ 131 billion of South Korean exports last year alone. After all, China’s support is also essential for any solution vis-à-vis North Korea.

South Koreans are now used to Kim Jong Un’s sabre-rattling and North Korea was actually not a very big issue at the polls. But South Korea is beset by a whole raft of other problems that are not easy to resolve. Corruption remains a prime concern, because it is very difficult to separate the South Korean economy from the performance of its top conglomerates or Chaebols, nearly all of which have been embroiled in mega corruption scandals.

High unemployment among the youth is one of the most pressing problems. Here too, a sluggish economy precipitated by the less-than-stellar performance of Chaebols has led to zero growth in employment opportunities. Moon, who has promised to rein in the Chaebols, will have his work cut out in dealing with this problem.

Moon has also pledged to make governance more transparent and less bureaucratic. Even small gestures can make a big difference to voters tired of political fortresses – Moon’s offer to move the presidential office from an isolated compound nestled into the mountains in Seoul, to Gwanghwamun Square, the heart of civic life in the capital where protests against Park took place, appealed to younger voters. In fact, one of Moon’s priorities will be building trust with the Korean voters fed up with corruption and bureaucracy. Voters are eager to see the back of the corrupt and elitist corporate and political culture that has dominated the country for many years and Moon’s political survival may depend on delivering this promise.

Moon will want to project a new image of South Korea to the world after all the bad news. There is no doubt that the traditionally strong ties between Sri Lanka and South Korea would become stronger under Moon who is keen to move closer to the rest of Asia. South Korea is one of the few countries that allocate a quota of jobs to Sri Lankan youth. It recently abolished a surety bond requirement for Sri Lankans seeking jobs, which will be a great boon. The Sri Lankan Government should negotiate with South Korean authorities for more jobs. Bilateral trade between the two nations amounts to around US$ 500 million but there is much room for improvement. South Korea is also a leading investor and aid provider. People-to-people contact too has been improved after Korean Air began direct flights to Colombo. We hope that both sides would keep this momentum going and take the bilateral relationship to a new level under Presidents Maithripala Sirisena and Moon Jae In.