» Members of the National Committee against the Four Major Rivers Project protest at the South Han riverbank in Yeoju City located in Gyeonggi Province where the government has begun construction of a weir, and hold up signboards that read, “Stop the Four Major Rivers Project,” Nov. 17.

The Lee Myung-bak administration’s tactics of speed, emphasizing haste over procedure and consensus, are causing vertigo. Major Lee administration policies have recently been racing their way into conflict and confusion, including the merging of administrative districts where six candidate regions were announced initially but only one remains, the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project where a preliminary feasibility study was omitted and the shovels entered the earth before the National Assembly could even review the budget, and the Sejong City Development Plan which has been scrapped for a new plan that will reportedly be created in the next 40 days or so. Some observers are saying these tactics resemble those of a construction site, where the paramount goal is to finish the project in time, without concern for the methods taken.

The most representative case of failure resulting from a slipshod job is the merging of administrative districts. In late Sept., the Lee government received applications from 46 cities and countries in 18 regions nationwide and carried out a public opinion survey. On Nov. 10, it announced six regions where a majority supported consolidation. Just two days later on Nov. 12, however, an announcement was made that two of the regions would be excluded because of electoral district coordination issues. Analysts say that remaining four would be difficult to consolidate, with the exception of Masan-Changwon, because of the differing interests of each city and county. In the process, damage was done to the credibility of the administrative district merger policy due to a controversy over how the sample population was selected for the polls, questions about the validity of the votes, and attacks on violations of the law.

In the case of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, in which various opinion polls have shown more than half of the population of South Korea is in opposition, digging for the project began earlier this month based on the administration's creation of a clause in the Government Finance Law that exempts the administration from having to conduct a preliminary site assessment. Opposition parties have objected and declared that they will refuse to deliberate on the budget for the project, but the Lee administration has paid no mind to this and set bulldozers on the Nakdong River.

In the case of the construction of Sejong City, despite the fact that the first government-civilian panel was held Monday, the Lee administration has rushed things and have said that a conclusion will be reached by the end of this year. Observers are saying the Lee government appears to have determined that the issue of revising the original plan for the city is already divisive and that it would not help matters to drag things out. It was in this context that President Lee recently said, “I am not going to wait to gauge public opinion.”

Some analysts are saying the Lee administration is pushing on the accelerator with such confidence because of the president’s success in the past with such speed tactics, such as with the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project implemented during his period as mayor of Seoul. In that case, then-Mayor Lee carried the project forward while persuading the people whose interests were involved, including Cheonggyecheon merchants, and ultimately shaved some two months off of the projected construction time of two years and six months. The president himself called it a “murderous schedule.”

However, some analysts are suggesting the project, which became a decisive stepping stone in his ascent to the presidency, could also be a detriment to his governance. Lee Byung-chun, economics professor of Kangwon National University, said, “Pushing forward with projects as was done with Cheonggyeocheon may work in city units like Seoul, but it is difficult to apply the same methods to state administration, where a far greater variety of values and interests are in conflict.” Lee added, “In order to manage state affairs, you need to have a process of forming consensus through procedure, even if it slows things down.”

Other observers are citing President Lee’s background in the construction industry, representative of the development era in the 1970s with its “fighting while building” style, as another factor in his obsession with speed. These observers are saying he is not wanting to abandon the attitude of CEO in the construction industry who cuts corners in order to meet deadlines. Adding to his haste was his failure to carry out the plans he was pursuing last year when he encountered citizen resistance in the form of candlelight vigil demonstrations as soon as he took office. Current Affairs critic Kim Jong-bae said, “As a result of citizen objections, President Lee could not carry out the Grand Korean Waterway project and had to change course on the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project process.” Kim also said, “As a result, it seems like he is overdoing it because he believes there is no time and everything has to be handled in a hurry.”

Kim added, “This is just like a construction site, where after external factors like accidents or floods have caused delays, and rough-and-ready ‘design changes’ are being made to meet the deadline.”

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