[Editorial] Korea at a Crossroads

At the dawn of the new year which marks 62 years since the country’s liberation from colonial rule, 59 years since the foundation of the republic and 45 years since the start of its economic development, Korea is at a crossroads: will it become a truly advanced country harnessing its strength which made it possible to achieve rapid industrialization and democratization, or will it be just stuck in the present, failing to make any progress? At this critical juncture, it is hard not to ask ourselves whether we are prepared to become the citizens of an advanced country, and it is also hard to shed a sense of shame.

It has been two decades since Koreans achieved political democratization with people power. However, democracy has yet to take root in people’s everyday lives. The foundation of the country is shaken due to undermined principles of free democracy, market economy and rule of law. It has wasted the lesson that it learned dearly during the financial crisis a decade ago. It has been mired in slow economic growth, in which potential growth rates decline, for years, amid global economic expansion. The International Monetary Fund warned that if the current trends in Korea’s politics, economy and society, the country’s growth rate will drop into the two percent range by 2020.

The political leadership has led the country backward with their conduct of state affairs, which is far from pragmatism, and protection of national interests and people’s livelihoods. The Roh Moo-hyun administration fanned division and conflict with its anachronistic ideas when it should have done its utmost to unite all sectors of the country by pursuing national unity. The young politicians in the ruling camp also caused serious side effects with their anti-market policies, which is a product of excessive ideology and inability.

Many sectors of society have also failed to free themselves from perceptions and behavior, which hamper the country’s transformation into an advanced nation. The obstacles to the country’s advancement include violent pursuit of self-interest, chauvinistic nationalism, and entrenched anti-free trade sentiment and a rigid labor movement which goes against global trends.

There will be a presidential election in Korea this year. To elect an able leader who can present vision for national advancement and heal the current national depression, the public should remain cool-headed. They should elect a leader equipped with insight and drive who can deeply understand the global trend and pursue national interest in it. They should place the country under the stewardship of a leader with firm philosophy in national security and market economy, rather than a demagogue who take advantage of people’s emotions.

A good standard in choosing the next administration would be whether they “have done productive work and paid taxes regularly.” If such people take office, they can manage national wealth as if it is their own asset. Those who have never paid taxes impose excessive taxes on people and squander taxpayers’ money because they do not understand the tax burden.

The prevailing global trend is to reduce taxes and government spending while strengthening the role of market. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported that most of its member states are conducting tax reforms to decrease tax burden on individuals and corporations with the goal of boosting the vitality of market economy. World Bank also analyzed that a smaller government with a simple tax system tends to decrease tax evasion and corruption, thus fostering economic growth.

To be sure, corporations are the locomotives of economy. As Alvin Toffler aptly described, companies are changing at the rate of 100 miles per hour but labor unions at 30 miles per hour and government regulators at 25 miles per hour are hindering business activities. Even amid such a difficult situation, corporations posted more than $300 billion in exports last year. Hopefully, they will further strengthen Korea’s growth engine by developing technologies, nurturing human resources and innovating management, with the thought that they “are doing what the government failed to do.”

In the global knowledge-based society in 21st-century, people’s intellectual ability amounts to a country’s competitiveness. And, the starting point of fostering people’s intellectual ability is to transform the education system into one full of competition, autonomy and diversity, rather than an idle system based on ideology.

This year, chances are that conflicts over inter-Korean relationship and the Korea-U.S. alliance would pose a threat to social stability. The public should dispel such a dangerous attempt to divide them with emotional nationality and blind patriotism. Only when the public confronts forces which compromise free democracy can they build an advanced Korea.

To be an advanced country, not only national income but also national level should go up. What is important on the path to an advanced nation is firm establishment of rule of the law.

To avoid further strain on people’s livelihoods, the government should focus on economic recovery while shaking off its ambition to take back office in the next administration and remaining neutral in the presidential election. If the president is obsessed with surprise announcements and political maneuvering during the remaining one year of his term, that will put the country in danger.

This year, people have a mixed bag of concerns about the government’s lost principles in conducting national affairs and expectations for a new leadership. People with dreams have a brighter future, and cool-headed people survive.