Korea election: Evidence of national success

ShareThis

South Koreans have given Americans something to celebrate about this holiday season, a successful presidential election. Press reports have focused on the unpopularity of outgoing President Roh Moo-Hyun. There has also been emphasis on the legal problems of new President Lee Myung-bak of the Grand National Party. Media analysts fret about relatively low voter turnout, and literal political combat. A physical brawl on the floor of the national legislature provided photo ops as well as critical commentary.Such negative notes miss the fundamental point that an orderly democratic process, carried out according to law, has once again been demonstrated in a country that until relatively recently was governed by a military dictatorship. A total of 10 presidential candidates contested the election. As in the U.S. today, a notably large number of contenders sought the top office. In addition to Lee, there were two principal candidates, Chung Dong-young of the United New Democratic Party and the independent Lee Hoi-chang. Roh Moo-Hyun was restricted by the constitution to a single term in office.There are noteworthy personal as well as policy differences between the outgoing and incoming presidents. Roh tends to be mild, even cerebral. Lee Myung-bak is a veteran of big business, with overt emphasis on action. Lee faces charges of personal corruption that have led to appointment of a government special prosecutor, an embarrassing complication. He has emphasized his innocence but stated he will resign if convicted.South Korea's capitalism is very new. Until the end of World War II Korea was a peasant economy, oppressed by very harsh Japanese colonial occupation. New capitalism usually involves particularly intense competition for growth and profit, with modern legal procedures very rudimentary or totally absent. Lee remains innocent until proven guilty, and the fact that government authorities are willing to pursue legal procedures against the president is strong testimony to contemporary strength of the rule of law. Criticizing President Roh for hurting the economy is overdone, given the steady growth that has occurred under his watch. There has been no repetition of the flight of capital from South Korea that occurred a decade ago as part of the very serious Asian crisis. At that time, high-risk government policies in Southeast Asia sparked financial fright, and money flight, throughout the region. Roh's fiscal prudence in giving priority to budget balance is defensible given this history. Public restlessness about lack of greater economic growth indicates the high expectations of democratic electorates on both sides of the Pacific. A real estate slump reflects global trends reaching well beyond Korea.Opposition attacks on the Roh government for seeking accommodation with the North, and being too polite while doing so, purchased political support for Lee but even now seem dated. Last summer, Pyongyang agreed to UN inspection of nuclear reactors. The much-maligned "Sunshine Policy" of Roh regarding the North has actually produced meaningful diplomatic daylight. The U.S. played a very important role in this by declaring Banco Delta Asia (BDA), based in Macau, a renegade institution assisting illegal financial activities by Pyongyang. American businesses were banned from dealing with BDA, others followed suit, and the Macau government froze $25 million in North Korean funds. Washington then offered to assist in return of the money if North Korea would desist on nuclear development.President Lee's business experience may prove his greatest asset in office. As the BDA case illustrates, Pyongyang governs a very weak as well as corrupt economy. There is no evidence of imminent collapse in the North, but the status quo cannot continue indefinitely. Economic carrots, readily available in rich and productive South Korea, may finally bring dramatic change to the North.Dwight Eisenhower ended the Korean War, then immediately undertook a massive comprehensive effort to develop educational and economic as well as political resources in South Korea. South Korea owes a lot to Ike's insight, and so do we Americans.(Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College in Wisconsin and author of 'After the Cold War.' He can be reached at acyr(at)carthage.edu)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)