Lame Duck Government Lacks Official Discipline

Recently, the nation has been struck by a series of disasters including weapons robbery and oil spill incidents. Amid such large scale man-caused disasters, there are growing concerns over the lame duck government’s ability to respond to emergencies as it failed to properly manage the consequences.

In particular, these incidents have spawned criticisms that the government’s failure to prevent or respond swiftly in the beginning worsened the damage, and that the lame duck incumbent government showed its inability to tighten official discipline.

The military imposed the highest level alert and began searching the immediate area 50 minutes after the weapons robbery attack occurred on Ganghwa Island on December 6 but missed the opportunity to capture the culprit due to its idle response.

At 5:47 p.m. that day, only seven minutes after the incident, a witness reported to the police the vehicle and its license plate number. But the military and police failed to cooperate with one another, which gave the culprit enough time to escape the scene.

The suspect is believed to have set fire to the vehicle in a rice field in Hwaseong, southwest of Seoul, at around 10:40 p.m. This means that, while the military and police were in a flurry, the criminal already fled from the assault site and avoided the military’s search at a check point.

In addition, in Yangju City, Gyeonggi Province, military soldiers during a search at a check point mistakenly fired bullets at a vehicle that they believed to be the same vehicle used in the assault, which aggravated the citizens’ fear.

On December 7, when the oil spill incident occurred off the coast of Taean County, the Korea National Maritime Police Agency announced, “Since the environmental disaster took place some eight kilometers off the coast and the wind is blowing out to sea, so little of the oil spill will reach the shoreline. We predict based on our simulation that it would be 24 to 36 hours before oil will wash ashore.”

Contrary to the initial forecast, however, the oil was all over Mallipo and Cheollipo beaches 13 hours after the incident. This fundamental mistake by the government draws much criticism for its failure to reduce the damage.

Recently, slack discipline of police officers has come under fire. There are numerous reports of its relaxed discipline although they are supposed to provide the public with protection and prevent crimes.

A 37-year-old senior policeman was booked without detention on last Thursday by the Gangnam police station on charges of a drunk driving and rear-end collisions with other vehicles.

On November 29, a 44-year-old senior policeman from the Mokpo police station in Jeonnam Province was arrested by the police in connection to a hit-and-run and a drunk driving charge that critically hit an elderly man in his 70s.

On December 3, a former senior policeman was arrested in Busan on charges of embezzling 180 million won by illegally operating an adult game room while he was working as a policeman.

Presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon, concerning on the management of state affairs, said on Monday, “There are transitional periods in any government and any country. The current administration is determined to manage the state affairs in a responsible manner until its given term is finished.”