The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
  • Hangzhou Asian Games
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
  • Hangzhou Asian Games
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    PHOTOSTrapped along borders

  • 3

    Korea wins gold in League of Legends competition; Faker tops podium

  • 5

    Trailblazing nonagenarian artist honored for redefining Korean fiber art

  • 7

    Pentagon's CWMD strategy document calls N. Korea 'persistent threat'

  • 9

    Builders vie for leadership in modular construction

  • 11

    Are 'finfluencers' helping or harming investment community?

  • 13

    Apple, China met to discuss Beijing's crackdown on western apps: WSJ

  • 15

    Swimmer Kim Woo-min captures 3rd gold in Hangzhou

  • 17

    What to know and what's next for Travis King, the American soldier who ran into North Korea

  • 19

    S. Korea eliminates N. Korea in women's table tennis doubles

  • 2

    BTS' Jungkook to drop 2nd solo single

  • 4

    VIDEOBustling Chuseok: Namsan Hanok Village immerses visitors in Korea's rich traditions

  • 6

    Opposition leader Lee again proposes talks with President Yoon

  • 8

    BTS' Jungkook drops 2nd solo single

  • 10

    Yoon hosts Chuseok luncheon for Korean atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima

  • 12

    Korea fails to be included on FTSE Russell's global bond index

  • 14

    Poll shows 79% of young Koreans agree on need to improve ties with Japan

  • 16

    INTERVIEW'Coexistence of different art hubs across Asia is necessary': Art Week Tokyo Director

  • 18

    Second release of Fukushima wastewater to start next week

  • 20

    S. Korea cruises past N. Korea in women's basketball

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Opinion
  • Yun Byung-se
  • Kim Won-soo
  • Ahn Ho-young
  • Kim Sang-woo
  • Lee Kyung-hwa
  • Mitch Shin
  • Peter S. Kim
  • Daniel Shin
  • Jeon Su-mi
  • Jang Daul
  • Song Kyung-jin
  • Park Jung-won
  • Cho Hee-kyoung
  • Park Chong-hoon
  • Kim Sung-woo
  • Donald Kirk
  • John Burton
  • Robert D. Atkinson
  • Mark Peterson
  • Eugene Lee
  • Rushan Ziatdinov
  • Lee Jong-eun
  • Chyung Eun-ju and Joel Cho
  • Bernhard J. Seliger
  • Imran Khalid
  • Troy Stangarone
  • Jason Lim
  • Casey Lartigue, Jr.
  • Bernard Rowan
  • Steven L. Shields
  • Deauwand Myers
  • John J. Metzler
  • Andrew Hammond
  • Sandip Kumar Mishra
Sun, October 1, 2023 | 20:27
Troy Stangarone
What Yoon Suk-yeol can learn from Trump's presidency
Posted : 2022-05-02 16:24
Updated : 2022-05-02 16:24
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
By Troy Stangarone

When Yoon Suk-yeol is sworn in on May 10, he will assume the presidency with little political experience. In many cases, his advisers will certainly give him good advice, but as he prepares to take office, President-elect Yoon should take a moment to consider what he can learn from Donald Trump's presidency in the United States.

Any comparison to Trump has the potential to be fraught. He is a highly divisive figure whose supporters can often see no wrong and opponents can often see no right. But from a more objective standpoint, there are potential lessons.

While Yoon and Trump come from different backgrounds, they share certain commonalities. Neither held elective office before ascending to the presidency and both will likely enter office as the least popular president-elects for their respective countries in modern times.

There are differences between Yoon and Trump's situations, but the similarities suggest that Yoon may be able to draw lessons from Trump's experience.

When Trump first announced his candidacy in June of 2015, he was not the dominant figure of the Republican Party that he is today. He won the primary election against the wishes of the Republican establishment and the general election against a high profile Democrat in Hillary Clinton. In essence, Trump did not owe his victory to anyone.

The independence of that victory and Trump's status as an outsider gave him a political advantage that perhaps no president-elect in modern U.S. history had. Unbeholden to anyone, Trump could have taken the approach of supporting the best idea ― Republican, Independent, or Democrat ― rather than doubling down on the party elites' view of what the Republican base wanted.

However, with Democrats largely inclined to be against him, and specifically his immigration policies, Trump hugged tighter to his core supporters. The need to run for re-election in four years, something Yoon does not face, also pushed Trump to move closer to Republican orthodoxy when he was not pursuing his long-held skepticism of U.S. allies, immigration, and trade that served as the basis of his "America First" policies, which were extremely popular with the Republican base.

Trump's decision to hue closely to his base, however, only limited his opportunities to build broader support for his policies and accelerated the political polarization that had been growing in the United States.

While political polarization is rising in Korea, Yoon may have more space here. The Korean public is less tied to political parties than the public in the United States. Data analyzed by University of California-San Diego political scientist Stephan Haggard also suggests that it is the party faithful that is becoming more polarized, not the Korean public. The majority of the populace holds moderate political views. This could give Yoon more opportunities than Trump to appeal to non-core supporters and avoid deepening political polarization.

There is also a more practical reason why Yoon should work to avoid political polarization. When Trump came to office, Republicans controlled both Houses of Congress making bi-partisanship a luxury that Trump did not need. Yoon, in contrast, will need to build a working relationship with the Democratic Party of Korea, which controls the National Assembly.

This will be important if he wants to achieve lasting political change, which requires bipartisanship and public acceptance. On trade policy, the Biden administration has largely hued to Trump's instincts. In this area, a significant portion of the Democratic Party was already skeptical of trade, along with union voters in key swing states. This made a return to a free trade orientation more difficult for the Biden administration. However, on many policies from immigration to climate change the Biden administration has sought to reverse Trump's policies, much as Trump worked to reverse policies put in place by Barack Obama.

A final insight from the Trump presidency is that party elites and party voters may not share the same views on issues. Trump found that his voters ― Republican voters ― often did not care about the issues that the party elite cared about. Since Ronald Regan, Republicans have campaigned on limited government and low taxes, especially for the wealthy. What Trump's election revealed is that most of the Republican base supported big government programs ― like Social Security and Medicare ― that Republicans have long tried to cut or eliminate and that they would be perfectly happy to pay for them with higher taxes on the wealthy.

It can be useful to engage elites, but their agenda may not actually be the agenda of voters. Korea, of course, has its own unique politics and issues that will affect how one learns from Trump's experience, but as a president with little political experience thinking deeper about how Trump approached the U.S. presidency could help Yoon improve his own.


Troy Stangarone (ts@keia.org) is the senior director of congressional affairs and trade at the Korea Economic Institute.




 
miguel
wooribank
LG
Top 10 Stories
1[INTERVIEW] Risk-averse culture is forcing daring creators to flee showbiz INTERVIEWRisk-averse culture is forcing daring creators to flee showbiz
2Koreans adapt to soaring food prices Koreans adapt to soaring food prices
3[PHOTOS] Trapped along borders PHOTOSTrapped along borders
4Education ministry prohibits parents from recording classes Education ministry prohibits parents from recording classes
5[VIDEO] Bustling Chuseok: Namsan Hanok Village immerses visitors in Korea's rich traditions VIDEOBustling Chuseok: Namsan Hanok Village immerses visitors in Korea's rich traditions
6Builders vie for leadership in modular construction Builders vie for leadership in modular construction
7Value, consumer goods, financial stocks expected to gain momentum after Chuseok holiday Value, consumer goods, financial stocks expected to gain momentum after Chuseok holiday
8Are 'finfluencers' helping or harming investment community? Are 'finfluencers' helping or harming investment community?
9[INTERVIEW] ROK-US alliance is win-win partnership: KUSAF chief INTERVIEWROK-US alliance is win-win partnership: KUSAF chief
10Over 30,000 protesters march for climate actions Over 30,000 protesters march for climate actions
Top 5 Entertainment News
1[INTERVIEW] 'Coexistence of different art hubs across Asia is necessary': Art Week Tokyo Director INTERVIEW'Coexistence of different art hubs across Asia is necessary': Art Week Tokyo Director
2M+ deputy director discusses Seoul's potential to challenge Hong Kong as Asia's art hub M+ deputy director discusses Seoul's potential to challenge Hong Kong as Asia's art hub
3Trailblazing nonagenarian artist honored for redefining Korean fiber art Trailblazing nonagenarian artist honored for redefining Korean fiber art
4[INTERVIEW] With '30 Days,' Kang Ha-neul finds new level of comfort in acting INTERVIEWWith '30 Days,' Kang Ha-neul finds new level of comfort in acting
5Rwandan artists bring diversity to Seoul's art scene Rwandan artists bring diversity to Seoul's art scene
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group