hankyoreh

President Park Geun-hye made a statement yesterday describing the abandonment of the sinking Sewol ferry by its captain and a few of its crew members as a “murderous act.” She also pointed the finger at government officials, who she said would be “sternly held accountable.” Her wording was strong, and focused entirely on punishment and blame. Yet somehow they seemed to ring hollow. It was impossible to shake the sense that her focus was on the wrong place.

The sinking of the Sewol was not the only disaster last week. We also saw massive holes in the government’s disaster response system and crisis management capabilities. The initial response fell well short of what was needed, and the relevant agencies failed to cooperate; the disaster response manuals shut down at a pivotal moment. The government was frantic when it needed to be composed, inconsistent when it needed to be clear. The Blue House was no exception. Yet here the President is blasting the captain and blaming the civil servants as though it has nothing to do with her.

Park emphasized the importance of a “powerful disaster response control tower” and called for “reflection on the government’s crisis response system and initial measures.” But one gets the sense that the reflection really needs to start at the Blue House itself. As when campaigning for president, Park pledged to build an “integrated system with unified disaster management duties,” a plan that was further developed after she took office when control tower functions were assigned to a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters under the Ministry of Security and Public Administration. That system has failed to work properly, as the events of the past few days have made clear. Instead of rushing to point fingers and criticize, the President’s first order of business should be fixing the system.

During the Roh Moo-hyun administration (2003-08), the Blue House’s National Security Council was also tasked with serving as a crisis management control tower for disaster situations. A state-of-the-art situation room was set up in an underground bunker at the Blue House, with an electronic situation board providing a clear picture of the situation on the ground based on information provided in real time by the leading government agencies. It was a system that allowed for a swift and systematic response to any disaster. But the NSC lost this role when the Lee Myung-bak administration took over and set about erasing signs that Roh had ever been there; under the Park administration, it has yet to be restored. Is it too much of a stretch to think those “golden 93 minutes” in the disaster’s initial stages might not have been helplessly wasted if the Blue House had this kind of system in place? It is a troubling thought.

Park‘s strong language may help her manage her approval rating, but it is questionable just how much it helps the situation unfolding right now. It’s too easy to simply lash out at the captain and the crew. The whole country is infuriated about what they did. But the President’s comments about “murderous acts” are not helpful. If the President talks about “stern punishments” and singles out of minor issues on the ground, government officials would be liable to become even more skittish and consider about what might come out of her mouth next.

It should go without saying that this cuts into the efficiency of the accident response effort and the development of countermeasures. More likely, it will encourage a “keep your head down” mentality among officials, who will end up focusing on the things that don’t require responsibility while avoiding the things that do. This may be one of the reasons the behavior of some of them seems to defy popular feeling and common sense.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]