[Editorial] Trust In Government Hits Bottom Yet Focus Remains On General Election?

According to an opinion poll conducted from June to September by the University of Tokyo’s Research and Information Center for Oriental Studies, the Korean people’s confidence in their government turned out to be at the lowest level among the 10 Asian countries surveyed. When asked, “Do you trust your government?” only 21 percent of the Korean people replied affirmatively. Compared with 91 percent in China, 88 percent in Malaysia, 84 percent in Thailand and 75 percent in India, this figure is remarkably low. The outcome was quite shocking even if there was a gap in the level of understanding between different nations.

Confidence is the string that ties a nation and a society into one. If the string becomes loose, national unity becomes difficult to realize. Even worse, we should be more concerned about disorganization and breakup. Confidence is the most important infrastructure component for the successful operation of a nation. Although the government produces the best vision and policies, they become useless if the public doesn’t give any trust and disagrees with them. All those catchphrases such as “an era of $20,000 individual income,” or the “Northeast Asian Business Hub” will end in empty talk.

The main reason for this insignificant level of confidence is a result of the lack of leadership and inconsistency in policies. Who can trust the government if the president is unable to stand for the center of the nation and keeps showing a tendency to back one political group against another, even as the nation’s major projects are drifting? The president who leads the cabinet is apt to make remarks such as “I can’t hold the presidency’ or “I will risk my presidency” and who can rely on the government?

Nevertheless, President Roh Moo-hyun’s concerns only seem to be focused on the general election next year. He has repeatedly made remarks that are so doubtful as regards the prior election campaign that the opposition party requested an authoritative interpretation from the National Election Commission. Actually, motivation orders for the upcoming general election have been issued to presidential aides and some ministers. If the president puts all his attention on the general election, uncertainty in national affairs and the discrediting of the government cannot but worsen.

However, the encouraging part of this survey is about patriotism. 85 percent of Korean people replied that they are proud of being Korean, which was higher than that of China with 83 percent and Japan with 65 percent. That makes the situation even more regrettable. Why can’t our President use the pride and passion of the Korean people as the main force in the nation’s improvement?