Leaderships of Kim Dae-jung and Margaret Thatcher

There is a common feature between the Kim Dae-jung government and former British premier Margaret Thatcher, as their governments made a début at a time their nations were experiencing economic difficulties. In the 1970s, when Thatcher was elected the prime minister, the functions of the British government was almost paralyzed due persisting economic pinch and strikes. Garbage was heaped on every street and hospitals were full of unattended patients resulting in the increasing death tolls. England, once, accounted for some 60 percent of the total production in Europe, but the nation`s economic luster was overshadowed by more than 2 millions of jobless people who were loaming on the streets.

Even disgusting to recall, when President Kim Dae-jung took office in the early 1998, Korea was facing an unprecedented economic crunch on account of foreign exchange drainage. At that time, domestic enterprises were going on bankrupt one after another and an ever-increasing number of the jobless people were thrown onto the streets for sleeping outdoors. Amidst sighing outcast workers, the national economy was desperately struggling to find a way out of the dark tunnels. In this manner, the two governments started with similar darkness, confusion and despair, the two marked a significant contrast in the methods of their overcoming their national plights.

For the Thatcher government, its foremost problem is the declining coal mine industry that was squandering the bulk of the national budget. Since Thatcher decided to shut the ailing coal mines, her government wage a "war of patience" with the trade union for year. During the course of relentless struggles between the government and the union, the general public endured their pains amid coldness and hunger. As a result, the nation`s political power was transferred to the government from the trade union and so-called British disease, a target of global mockery, was healed, and consequently, the nation recovered its status as the "financial empire." The Thatcher success is ascribed to the fact that her government policies in general obtained a broad public support. In some details, the following are cited for the reasons to make possible the success story.

First, premier Thatcher succeeded to earn the people`s solid conviction and confidence in the process of policy decision-makings following thorough examination of the prescribed policies. Second, the government made adequate preparations before the start of labor war with the union, involving storage of coals for one-year use, on one hand, and steadfast dialogue for persuading the unionists, on the other, while ordinary citizens were well informed of the nation`s actual situation. Third, the premier maintained a strong leadership since her declaration of war with the union by refusing to capitulate to unionists` denunciations and complaints or to seek unprincipled compromise with them under the policy line to uproot the source of the mutual complications rather than glossing over the situation.

If any nation intend to cope with the similar situation in the lack of even one of the three foresaid conditions, the nation will give the people the impression that the government is suppressing the unionist movement and eventually go under the pressure group for good.

At the initial stage of Korea`s financial crunch, President Kim wielded undisputed leadership in riding out the crisis. However, the Kim administration began to depart from this principle one step by one step, apparently out of fatigue or perseverance but to gradually compromise with the trouble realities. This is evidenced in the recent upheaval involving the medical doctors` general strike. The government has made it repeatedly clear that the separation of the roles between the doctors and pharmacists is the best government policy for national interest, but the poor preparations for the implementation of the policy has given an good excuse for the medical circle to revolt in the course of their mutual negotiations. Even if the doctors complied with the government policy without objections, was there no problems arisen from its implementation on the target day of July 1? In this war with the medical doctors, the government had no firm conviction, nor full preparations, and it even failed to display a viable leadership.

kyumlee@donga.com