hankyoreh

President Lee Myung-bak may be on vacation, but he does not seem to be relaxing.

It was reported that President Lee recently became furious when he learned that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names had changed its description of the Dokdo islets from its previous designation as South Korean territory to having “undesignated sovereignty.” Lee was also reported to have become enraged on July 15 after receiving reports that Japan would state Dokdo as its territory in a new teachers’ instruction manual. During a ministers’ meeting on July 13, Lee became infuriated about a delay in the report on the shooting of a South Korean tourist at North Korea’s Mount Geumgang (Kumgang).

Lee’s recent flare-ups have mainly been incited by issues related to foreign affairs and national security. Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae, or the Blue House, has been active in disclosing just how furious the president has been. In its recent statements, Cheong Wa Dae seems to be trying to form a sense of unity with the people, almost as if it were confronting an outside enemy, and is attempting to shift the blame off of the president and onto related ministers or those it sees as responsible. As a result, the president could see his authority decrease.

Lee did not seem to react when he received word of the Geumgang shooting on July 11. But two days later, as public criticism about the government’s handling of the incident began to grow, he started scolding his staff for delays in getting a report on the matter.

It seems Cheong Wa Dae is also using Lee’s anger as a way of disciplining its staff. A Cheong Wa Dae official remarked on July 28, “In general, President Lee is not the kind of person who gets infuriated in public. We made a strategic decision to let people on the outside see Lee’s anger.”

Former presidents Kim Young-sam, Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun only occasionally expressed their anger while in office, mostly over diplomatic matters. Roh, in particular, was known to have expressed his anger about domestic issues in public, even on television.

Lee, however, has had a number of public outbursts since the early days of his term and this has revealed that the government is not exactly running smoothly. The effect of Lee’s anger could also be that he comes off as arrogant and emotional, thereby reducing his overall effectiveness as a leader.

Choi Jin, the director of the Institute of Presidential Leadership, said that the goal of publicizing Lee’s anger is to promote idea that recent situations have been caused by external factors, rather than through any fault of the leadership.

However, Choi also expressed his concern that President Lee is getting overly emotional. A president has to act calmly and dispassionately when dealing with important issues, instead of getting angry, Choi said.

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