The possibility of a Romney election win

The Kim Dae-jung administration of South Korea hoped for an Al Gore victory in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. In the same year, the first inter-Korean summit was held, North Korea’s top military official Jo Myong Rok visited Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright visited the North, and President Bill Clinton thought seriously about visiting Pyongyang. The winner of the White House in 2000, however, was Republican candidate George W. Bush. In a summit one year later, President Bush was told by President Kim about the latter`s "sunshine policy" of engagement with North Korea and that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was a reasonable man. The U.S. leader interrupted Kim to ask how can a man who let his people die of hunger and develop nuclear weapons can be considered reasonable.

Until earlier this year, few people doubted that incumbent U.S. President Barack Obama would be reelected. Just four U.S. presidents have failed at reelection since the beginning of 20th century: William Taft, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush. As the first African American elected to the White House and a surprise Nobel Peace Prize winner, Obama was welcomed when he reconciled with Islam. Things changed, however, as he failed to improve the economy and cut the double-digit unemployment rate. Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, whose approval rating exceeded 90 percent after the U.S. victory in the first Persian Gulf War, basically lost his reelection bid to Clinton’s slogan, “It is the economy, stupid!”

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who was named the Republican Party`s presidential candidate at its national convention Thursday, is a former CEO and economy expert. He has degress from Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School and helped the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics earn a surplus as chairman of the Olympic organizing committee. On diplomacy, however, he has little experience and is hawkish toward North Korea. His mentors are former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, who is known as a neo-con, and Georgetown University professor Victor Cha, who created “hawkish engagement.”

Romney was behind Obama four to eight percentage points in public approval ratings but has earned support of 43 percent after the convention. The two Koreas need to think about the possibility of a U.S. president who wants to create a strong America and a better future with the image of “Mr. Fix It.” When South Korea was led by a liberal government, the country used to make a lot of noise when the U.S. had a conservative administration.

Editorial Writer Ha Tae-won (triplets@donga.com)