[Editorial] No Time to Lose to Get Things Right

President Lee Myung-bak’s landslide victory in the December 2007 presidential election came on the back of voters who supported his pledges on reviving distorted national identity and sputtering the economic growth engine. In this sense, President Lee was mandated to clear obstacles to retrieving national identity and to build a nation full of talents.

This is not an easy task. A host of challenges and resistances are getting in the way to restore constitutional values and accelerate slackened economic growth. Lee said Thursday that, “I came to realize that the past decade has left a long shadow and a firm root which are hard to remove.”

What he meant was the two leftist administrations had left behind tenacious legacies such as ideology and vested interest forces. The left-wing groups, siding with some TV networks with “programs for labor unions,” have been eager to hamper the new administration.

Against this backdrop, the Lee administration should act up its own conviction, instead of retreating in the face of mounting challenges. Public discontent and disappointment will grow if he keeps dragging the feet in carrying out and implementing what he has to do, due to other constraints.

“The drive to correct distorted history textbooks and anti-free market economy textbooks based on leftist viewpoints,” led by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, is the first step in the right direction to regain national pride and identity. The government should push on ahead with plans to rewrite the entire textbooks in question with the shortest preparation time if possible.

Diverse high school systems and university autonomy, which are the two pillars of the education policy of the administration, are urgently needed to nurture the talented who can compete in the global stage and to expand the educational opportunities for children from low-income families. The Lee administration should not back down in the face of strong resistance by the Korean Teachers and Educational Worker`s Union (KTU).

The Education Ministry withdrew from its initial plans to make public information of elementary, middle and high schools starting this year to next year, and curtailed the contents of the related information. It is regrettable. The presidential transition committee had also failed to show its determination to revamp the English language education system when faced with harsh public criticism due to insufficient preparation.

The president also shouldn’t slacken the rein to normalize the cultural sector which had served as the stronghold of the left-wing forces for the past ten years under the Kim and Roh administrations. Recently nine film-related associations including the Motion Pictures Association of Korea released a statement reading, “A CEO-turned personnel should not be appointed to the post of the chairman of Korea Film Commission (KOFIC).” This statement came amid the movement by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to nominate a moderate figure to the chairman post.

The appointment of KOFIC chair will be signaled as the major departure from the past where leftist cultural forces reined the sector. If things fail to go as the ministry plan, a new era of change in ideologically distorted cultural forces will never be ushered in. The government should no longer waste time in calling for the resignation of KBS president Jeong Yun-Ju who refuses to step down despite mounting criticisms against his appointment made by former President Roh Moo-hyun.

No less important things for the administration to pursue is to abolish the unnecessary orders, regulations and instructions created during the past governments that go against the constitutions. Last but not least, the government should also hurry up to come up with systems and policies to raise public awareness for merits of the market economy and improve the business-friendly environment.