[Opinion] Election Season

“Although the abilities that I have are only slow words and blunt swords, I will do my best to eliminate that cunning and heinous band. Therefore, I will once again establish the Han Dynasty and return it to the old capital, which is my duty to you, your highness.” This is a quote from Zhuge Liang’s deployment letter in the Romance of Three Kingdoms. Zhuge, the prime minister of the Kingdom of Shu, wrote the letter to the emperor before setting off with his troops to fight against the Wei Dynasty.

The truthfulness of Zhuge Liang, who was determined to fight and die for his emperor, can be seen in his words, and the letter has been famous since ancient times.

Deployment letters have since become synonymous with running for office: perhaps because elections are similar to wars. With the upcoming May local elections, many people have expressed deployment letters of their own. The local elections will pick 3,808 new members, from metropolitan autonomous government heads to local assembly members, and it is estimated that about 24,000 candidates will run, so more deployment letters are expected. The average odds candidates face in the upcoming elections are six to one. Eight candidates are already running for Uri Party chairman, which will be decided on February 18.

Their oaths are very highly motivated, such as, “I will soak Korea with my toil and sweat”; “I will revive the dying local economy”; and “I will save the party.” Their expressions might be different, but their sentiments are the same: all of them claim that only they can save the country and its regions in crisis.

When looking at the candidates carefully, however, one begins to have some doubts. There are people that run for office whenever there are elections, regardless of type. Then there are people that migrate from party to party. There are even candidates with criminal records. Their oaths might be graceful, but their actions do not match their words.

Sociologists divide people seeking a governmental post into two types according to their motives: “post-seeking types” who are more interested in the gains and glory that the post will bring them, and “achievement-seeking types” who are more interested in achieving their goals through their post. In the era of globalization with limitless competition, the people we really need in office are the latter. Those who have already submitted their deployment letters should read Zhuge Liang’s that was written about 1,800 years ago and think hard about what is truly necessary for the country and its people.

Song Young-eon, Editorial Writer, youngeon@donga.com