[Editorial] "Open Leadership" out of Self-Examination

Six months have passed since President Roh Moo-hyun was inaugurated. It is time for the new government to gain stability after overcoming mistakes and errors in the initial phase. However, this is not the case. The new government has been mired in useless conflicts, failing to get a national consensus on the nation`s objectives and strategies. His approval rating dropped to 30-40% from 70% at the beginning of his term. This figure is the lowest in Korea`s political history. What made his popularity drop so much?

President Roh and his aides dismiss this as a transitional phenomenon. They say it is unavoidable during a political paradigm shift. They say this is a price the nation should pay to introduce a new political system where the government and the ruling party function separately, promoting balanced development, dropping the old system in which the president controls the ruling party and further the whole nation with great power. They contend that this trend of shedding authoritarianism will develop all of society in the near future.

However, it is questionable how many people agree to their argument. No one is afraid of the difficulties that they should go through in transition. What matters is hope and conviction for the future. If the Korean people are sure that there is a better future after suffering the current pain, they can overcome it easily. Did and will the new government convince the people of a rosy future? In fact, the answer is "no." The government should find a solution from self-examination and the President should be the first to do so.

Mr. Roh should take his eyes off himself and look around. He has always divided people into two groups: his team and the opposing team. This way, he cannot help unify the nation. As he himself is not always right, people that criticize him are not always conservatives who focus on protecting vested interests and oppose reform. Over the recent reshuffle in Cheong Wa Dae, even ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) members who had supported him said, "Now we don`t want to help him." The president should think about the reason his supporters said that.

He also should review the way he has dealt with critical pending issues, such as the discord between the Honam region and the Yeongnam region, labor disputes, and Korea-U.S. relations. Mr. Roh himself could be an arbitrator but he is not a party to the conflicts. At the moment the public sees the President take sides, problems become bigger and more complicated. He should not reproduce conflicts by taking sides and using hostile words, which is not appropriate for a President. A good example is the unnecessarily strained relationship with the media. Even a senior official of the Government Information Agency made remarks that blame both local and foreign media. Does that make sense?

The president needs leadership in many areas: policy, administration, and legislation. Whether a national goal can be achieved, whether a bill can pass through the National Assembly, or whether ministries can function well in harmony depends on the leadership of the president. We do not want regression to the old authoritarian system. We call on the president to have "open leadership" in a post-authoritarian era. He should be able to have a conversation with anyone and listen to anyone`s opinion.

The president should be able to embrace both his team and the opponent with a generous mind. By doing so, he can convince the public that the rest of his term will be different form the past six months.