Survey: next president should focus on nat`l harmony

South Korea’s opinion leaders have urged the next president to place top priority on harmony, trust and communication, and make strenuous efforts to communicate with the public.

They also suggested that the next administration strengthen diplomatic channels with China in addition to those with the U.S. to efficiently cope with the political situation on the Korean Peninsula, while maintaining the Lee Myung-bak government’s focus on economic development and “sales diplomacy.”

Marking its 91st anniversary, The Dong-A Ilbo conducted a survey of 100 professionals in fields such as politics, economy, society, culture and academia on what leadership and direction in administration the next president should have.

The survey was conducted jointly by Dong-A and the Institute of Korean Politics and Society of Seoul National University. The 100 leaders were selected by Dong-A and the think tank from leaders with major achievements in their respective fields.

On what values in administration the next president should pursue, the experts singled out harmony the most (16 percent), followed by trust (14 percent), and communication (12 percent). Freedom and efficiency were cited relatively less often.

Asked what the next administration should prioritize among policies, the experts picked economic development (16 percent) and inter-Korean relations (15.6 percent). They also said the next leader should emphasize policies directly affecting the people’s livelihood, including more jobs (12 percent) and easing of economic and social polarization (11 percent).

On the direction for implementation of respective policies, many experts suggested that the next government needs to make changes to diplomatic and educational policies.

As for diplomatic policies, the experts agreed that the degree of government policy should be set at 4.06 if the diversification of diplomatic channels is rated 0 and the reinforcement of South Korea-U.S. relations is rated 10. The intermediate level (maintenance of current practices) was rated 5.

Diplomacy for the economy and resources (59 percent) and that to tackle North Korea`s nuclear standoff (39 percent) were considered the most important. Many also suggested that the incumbent administration’s “sales-focused, practical diplomacy” should be maintained.

They also urged the "reinforcement of elite education" more than "promotion of egalitarian education" with a 5.97 rating if the former was rated 10 and the latter 0.

Many experts urged in administration stepped-up communication with the public (45 percent) and the restoration of relationship with the opposition (26 percent). Seventy-two percent urged the next government to seek a constitutional amendment, far higher than those opposed at 28 percent.

On the Lee administration’s policy achievements, the government received an above average score in economy (2.6) and an average score in diplomacy and national defense (2.9), but below-average scores in domestic politics (3.7) and social policy (3.4). A rating of 1 was granted for “doing very well” and 5 for “doing very poorly.”

ddr@donga.com