[Editorial] A Capable President

Tomorrow is the Lunar New Year holiday. With the 62nd birthday of Kim Jong Il yesterday, North Korea is still in celebration mode for the five-day Lunar New Year holiday. To poor North Koreans, however, the gift won at the six-party talks sounds foreign.

To South Koreans, it seems centuries ago when they really enjoyed this national holiday with joy and happiness. People’s livelihoods are still suffering and the ordinary are being hit hardest. President Roh promised on the same day last year, “I will stabilize consumer prices and the property market. More jobs will be created.”

However, a large number of men who are willing and able to work have given up the job search due to limited job opportunities: the most in six years. Individual bankruptcy filings tripled to 122,608 last year from 38,773 in 2005. One out of seven households is a family with no worker. Home and land prices have soared and home ownership appears to be a distant dream to the people without their own homes. Yesterday, President Roh said in his New Year’s address, “We’ll usher in a new era of $20,000 per capita income this year. The economy will renew its growth.” He said he believed in the people’s capacity, instead of government capacity. Unfortunately, that makes sense, as no one trusts the capability of the government.

As the president said, all Koreans want to trust in our capacity. This year, in particular, calls for the power of the voter to elect ‘a good and capable president’. People’s choices and decisions are the people’s responsibility. That is how sovereignty rests with the people. Improving livelihoods and achieving good politics are a public responsibility.

We must be cautious against being a foolish puppet. In history, Lenin once described the left wing, including that of the U.S. and the west, saying, “They will serve us as a foolish puppet.” The blind pro-North factions in Seoul are Kim Jong Il’s foolish puppets. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il may expect that the stupid puppets in the South will do their part in the coming presidential election.