hankyoreh

along with Coast Guard chief Kim Seok-kyun (right)

Blue House national security chief Kim Jang-soo and spokesperson Min Kyung-wook are nothing short of amazing. While the whole country is seething over the botched response to the Sewol ferry sinking, both men said point-blank that the Blue House Office of National Security “isn’t a control tower for disaster response.” With their attention to saving their own skins, they’re every bit the equal of the ferry’s captain when it comes to fleeing responsibility.

In its most basic terms, Kim’s characterization isn‘t wrong. Back during the Roh Moo-hyun administration (2003-08), the National Security Council did have sweeping security powers that included crisis management in the event of serious disasters. With the exception of military security, all of those disaster preparation functions were reassigned to different government agencies under Roh’s successor, Lee Myung-bak, and the Park Geun-hye administration has carried on the same system. Today, every one of us is bearing witness to just how mistaken a decision that was. The frantic fumbling of those agencies shows no signs of improving. Instead, we keep hearing them echoing the same refrain of “That’s not our department.”

If the officials at the Blue House have any sense at all, they would come before the public right now and admit their error in not having a control tower, or promise to turn the Blue House into a control tower and have it commit itself 100% to the rescue effort under way. Barring that, they would be better off just not mentioning the whole “control tower” thing at all. It’s the least they could do for family members who are enduring the unimaginable grief of losing their children. But it seems the Blue House’s officials are unencumbered by any such sense of shame or decorum.

Kim’s remarks provide a good picture of how the Blue House views the situation and where its attention is focused. In a nutshell, they don’t want to rush into the situation for fear that the issue of “responsibility” might get discussed. Kim’s eagerness to deflect responsibility isn‘t just about himself - it also seems intended to prevent any fallout from reaching President Park Geun-hye. Her role is to sit on high, casting down reprimands, questions, and punishments, and Kim wants to see to it that not so much as a droplet of the mud of responsibility gets on her shoe. It’s an astonishing degree of loyalty, and a sign of his keen political acumen.

It’s no secret that the Park administration’s Blue House has been more of a “control tower” than any that came before. None of the government agencies can so much as cough without orders and guidelines from there. Apparently, it’s only when catastrophe strikes that the Blue House has no intention of playing control tower. Meanwhile, all of those senior officials - including Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon, someone who was lording over the administration with unquestioned authority not too long ago - are suddenly nowhere in sight. They have power, but no sense of responsibility. There are rulers, but no leaders. And therein lies the other tragedy of the Sewol’s sinking.

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