hankyoreh

Nov. 28. (Photo by Shin So-young)

By Choi Won-hyung　

Chonbuk National University Political Science Professor Park Dong-cheon released a report Monday presenting the results of an analysis of the governance language used by former presidents Park Chung-hee and Roh Moo-hyun and current President Lee Myung-bak.

The analysis of Park Chung-hee’s language focused on his use of the terms “Korean people” and “democracy” as a central theme. Park took the view that “homeland modernization” was urgently needed, regarding this as a path to a “revival of the Korean people,” with the complete mobilization of national capabilities as “Korean-style democracy.”

Park Dong-cheon said that although this could be criticized as “superficial rhetoric that abuses language to mobilize the population,” many people agreed with the president‘s redefinitions of the “Korean people” and “democracy.”

Park added that if the South Korean political world of the day is viewed as a kind of formative period, “it may be possible to derive some legitimate significance in that Park Chung-hee’s use of language in redefining the Korean people and democracy was not utterly improper.”

Roh Moo-hyun’s language choices as president were sometimes shocking enough to have political opponents criticizing his “shooting-off-at-the-mouth politics,” as when he likened the controversy over the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea to the game “land grab” and addressed the sacred cow of military service by saying, “Do not go and rot in the military.”

Interpreting this from the perspective of “language democratization,” Park said that while official language has typically tended to include evasive expressions with regard to structural inequalities, Roh used the informal language of the masses to tackle such issues head on.

Park said the language of current president Lee Myung-bak “seemingly resembles the language styles of Park Chung-hee and Roh Moo-hyun, but the only thing that stands out with President Lee Myung-bak’s language is the element of power operating.”

The professor’s contention is that expressions from Lee like “fair society,” “green growth,” and “using pressure for peace on the Korean Peninsula” are contradictory in the context of a reality that does not match the rhetoric, as exemplified by the collapse of judicial fairness and the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project. Park also said there was nothing in Lee’s language to attach special significance to as with Park Chung-hee’s “redefinition of meaning” and Roh’s “democratization of language.”

Commenting on the descriptive contradictions, self-contradictions, inconsistencies, and self-negation appearing in the words of political leaders, Korea Press Ethics Commission review committee member Kim Ji-yeong said, “We need to establish responsibility and trust based on truth when speaking of governance indications and major governance issues just as we have with journalistic language.”

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