No more pathetic politics

• Published date: 01 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

Parties should compete with ideas and policies

In 1995, Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee angered the political community by saying, "Korea's businesses are second rate by global standards, but its government is third rate, and its politics is fourth rate."

It is questionable whether the late tycoon, familiar with backroom dealings with politicians, had the right to criticize his counterparts.

However, Lee's now-famous remark still has quite a ring to it.

Current scenes in Yeouido, Korea's political and financial hub, show that domestic politics have changed little over the past three decades. Fresh ideas and effective policies are hard to find. In their places are only power games and boss politics.

On Monday, the National Assembly rejected the government's request for consent to arrest Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), on corruption charges. However, Lee managed to avoid arrest by a razor-thin margin, as at least 30 DPK lawmakers did not vote by the party line.

Even more pathetic was the party's response to the internal revolt. Lee's loyalists set about to hunt down the rebels to drop them from party nominations for next year's general elections. That's the last thing the DPK must do now. Lee was right to tell his followers this is the time to cement the party's unity and listen to different voices within the party. To do so, however, Lee himself must change first.

Lee has sufficient political assets. Last May, Lee lost the presidential election by less than 1 percentage point in the polling rate, the narrowest margin in history. Three months later, he took the DPK's helm with an approval rate of nearly 80 percent. Lee's is a typical rags-to-riches story, from a factory hand in childhood to a lawyer, mayor, and provincial governor. He was a creative administrator and a feisty politician.

However, Lee's critical weakness is his "legal risk." He has been investigated on at least three counts since last year, including charges of embezzlement and bribery regarding a major land development scandal. Lee says all this is a conspiracy...