Gravitating toward further disconnect

By Eugene Lee

The month of June has been full of international and domestic events. From the NATO meeting in Vilnius to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) showdown in Japan and Korea, all those events will or already have played an important role in South Korea's history. As always, my interest is not in the events themselves, but in governance, or in other words, ways the current administration is reacting or taking part in those events.

The picture that currently presents itself is rather grim.

To start off, let's look at the economy. Factory activity was struck by the heaviest downturn in almost two decades. Some are even comparing the situation to the economic crisis of 1997. According to the Central Bank of Korea, he economy has been stuttering heavily and stumbled down to 13th place among top world economies, tailing Russia and Australia, from 10th just a year before. Yet, the Yoon administration's response was rather feeble. Instead of trying to prop up the economy, the administration encouraged even further spending on semiconductors.

The Fukushima wastewater issue, to me, is just a no-brainer! Forget about any partisan arguments of "yay" and "nay", but look simply at the geography of the region and you will get the idea of who is set to lose the most. The North-East of Asia has just a few countries. Two out of four, Korea and China, are against the release. Russia is busy in its brawl with Ukraine. Japan is the only one that is left to play its own game. The water from the power plant, if released, will affect them first. The bigger countries are likely to absorb the effects of it, but the smaller ones will bear the brunt of it.

At its core the problem is distance. We are just a thousand kilometers away from the power plant, but Vienna, home of the IAEA headquarters, is ten times further away, well-secured and protected. Add to the equation climate change and the repercussions of the release will be much bigger. Some scientists claim oceanic streams are slowing, meaning, this radioactive water could accumulate in the region. And if that happens, the issue of the release of water, which is full of isotopes is likely to become purely local.

Nonetheless, going beyond the release itself, most surprising is the hypocritical stance of the Yoon administration. Claiming to be pro-human rights, the administration is playing deaf to the worries of the environmental NGOs and civil society. A joint statement of three independent U.N. human rights experts ― Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, Special Rapporteur on Right to Food and Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment ― has never been presented to the public.

Then there was a series of so-called "cartel wars." Starting with the private education cartel, the administration launched an investigation into large private tutoring schools. Inadvertently it has driven itself into the issues of education reform, forgetting that education reflects the existing power structure of Korean society and thus requires a much deeper understanding and set of reforms.

Then there were other "cartels" ― the labor union, lawyers, real estate and even the subsidies cartel, which allegedly provided the wrong types of support to local farmers. All of which, saw the government "ruthlessly" fight against "cartels with vested interests" as the president appointed 13 new vice minister-level officials at the beginning of the month. Whatever the issue may be, it appears to be the result of a "cartel's" nefarious deeds. In other words, everything would appear to be a nail in the hands of someone holding a hammer, as they say.

However, as these "wars" were being fought, a scandal involving the Ministry of Transportation that local media referred to as a "highway cartel" struck the administration itself. According to rumors, a government official changed the design of a proposed road in Gyeonggi Province after being promoted for an unspecified reason, which caused the value of the land owned by the first lady's family to soar. Following the revelation of the scheme, the ministry strenuously denied any ill intent. Fortunately, the proposal was postponed.

The hypocrisy doesn't end there. When people here, in the country were dying due to the heavy rainfall and floods, the first lady, while accompanying President Yoon Suk Yeol on a state visit, had been spending her time at luxury shops. Add to that yet another incident, Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, a former presidential candidate of the governing People Power Party, was playing golf as the country was suffering from unprecedented flooding, and you get a bigger picture. The complete disregard of morals, norms and limits on what it means to be an administrator is what defines this administration. This administration is instilling a skewed mentality and lack of discipline among all public administrators by setting a poor example at the top.

All in all, the administration tries to portray all its effort to be for the sake of the country and its people. But it ends up attracting shady individuals who try to profit from power. By misleading itself and the public, the administration has become so distant from its citizens and ignorant of their worries and problems, that I am concerned how difficult it might be to close that gap once again.

Eugene Lee (mreulee@gmail.com) is a lecturing professor at the Graduate School of Governance at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul. Specializing in international relations and governance, his research and teaching focus on national and regional security, international development, government policies and Northeast and Central Asia.