[Editorial] “What should I do?” Says Chief Secretary to the President

The meeting of the National Assembly’s Special Council for Budget Settlement the day before yesterday turned into a comedy stage. Let us lay aside the fact that the Grand National Party pushed things a bit far in responding to the daring language of the president of Changshin Textiles, Kang Geum-won, by calling him the “self-appointed president.” The real problem was the response of Chief Secretary to the President Moon Hee-sang and Head of State Affairs Yoo In-tae. In response to the Assembly Members’ demand that he “take certain measures regarding Mr. Kang,” Secretary Moon replied, “What can I do? Before, the Chief Secretary used to hold great power, but now what can I really do? Should I prosecute him? He would have listened a long time ago had he ever listened to the president,” expressing his embarrassment over the situation. Head of the State Affairs Yoo also revealed the difficulties being faced, saying, “Phew. It is really suffocating. We are in a complicated situation.”

Who might Kang be, that he should be the source of such trouble, a comedy that no one can laugh at? What relations does he have to the President that make him unstoppable by anybody? There is talk that “a small President, who usually appears near the end of each regime, has already appeared.”

I do not think that the rough language from Mr. Kang is likely to stop soon, given his statements which included, “I am the president of the leading opposition within the regime,” “Head of the Civil Administration Moon Jae-in will be replaced during this reorganization,” “I helped candidate Roh during the presidential election in ways beyond anyone’s imagination,” and finally, “If I open my mouth and start to talk, many people will find themselves in difficult situations.” Nobody, however close to the regime, has ever in the course of Korean history spoken the way he has. For this reason, people do not see the relationship between the two parties as one of simple patronage.

It is not pleasant under any circumstances to hear a corporate figure from a small- or medium-sized company speaking as if he holds some kind of key to the stability of the regime and knows details of the president’s personnel management. He must restrain himself. This sort of behavior is not helping the president at all. He must speak to the Prosecution if he has any remarks to make.

At the same time, it is not right for President Roh just to sit back and watch. We do not know what stories involving him and Mr. Kang lie behind the scenes, but the current situation is increasingly fueling the doubts of the people. How can the president be allowed to fall victim to some comedy and the authority and order of the regime be permitted to fall down in this way?