[Editorial] Post-Election We Must Move Beyond the Pre-Election Period

The seventeenth general parliamentary election has reached completion. It is now time to move the debate over the election’s outcome to rest. More important than the victories and defeats are the lessons we have gleaned from the election, and whether or not we can incorporate them to guarantee future national and individual prosperity.

It is crucial that we immediately incorporate recent lessons into our country’s election process. The latest election campaign has proved that regarding someone with viewpoints different from our own as a target to eliminate or overthrow should be abandoned immediately. I acknowledge that someone may have different standpoints than my own, but today’s disorder, resulting from ideological differences, generation gaps, and regional rancor, will not be solved easily. With the exception of the leading and opposition parties, the conservatives and the progressionists should attempt to understand one another.

The Democratic Labor Party has succeeded in making inroads into the National Parliament, allowing progressionists to participate in the main currents of society for the first time in almost 40 years. This sort of diversity in our society will not appear again if we become a dichotomy. Negotiation should consist of rational and logical reasoning power, and the defeated should yield gracefully to the result.

This is the first step in establishing a mutual and magnanimous society.

With this in mind, we should be able to establish a strong foundation for this country. The orthodox foundation of Korea, which has its origins in democracy and capitalism, should be meditated over by both the winner and the loser. The alteration of the political world should not be overestimated as it has great impact on the changes of the basic policies and national ideology of our country. During the election campaign period, emotions rather than rationality, and popularity rather than policies were regarded as most powerful, but still, the fundamental system of the country and the political world has not changed.

One cannot over-emphasize the importance of the spirit of authentication through a firm reasoning procedure. In an era of conflict and disorder, we have to hold firm to this spirit. We must not regard something as conservatist or progressivist, but, rather, evaluate content over formality, practice over remarks, and public interest over moral justification. The public has exhausted its passion for political renovation and the inane rhetoric of the candidates during this election campaign period. Failing to address practical issues of the future such as economy and livelihood, the politicians have succeeded only in quarreling with each other. Although the election has come to an end, uncertainty about the future remains.

Several pending questions are left for us to solve as quickly as possible. With the exceptions of the North Korean nuclear problem and the issue of sending Korean troops to Iraq, the most critical problem today is the stagnated economy. With no more job openings, the unemployment rate of the youth is ever increasing. Companies are reluctant to invest more, and many industrial spheres of the country are being depleted. The political world should present a united front to solve this problem. This is the best medicine for economic renovation.

All these things will make the impossible possible. Though we are still not sure whether or not the constitutional court will pass an impeachment bill against President Roh, the political world and the government must present a united leadership in arbitration by demanding the mutual agreement of the nation and utilizing available national power. Regressive and unproductive conflicts should not be reiterated again.

Post-election Korea has to be move beyond the recent election period. Both the winners and the losers should carefully mediate upon the most efficient means to guaranteeing the people of our nation a happy life.