hankyoreh

While on summer vacation

President Moon Jae-in officially returns to work next week after his first summer vacation. The reports waiting on his desk when he gets back to the Blue House are likely to be thicker and more complicated than before he left. A number of issues have been rapidly escalating over the past week or two – including the move away from nuclear energy, higher taxes, and solutions on real estate issues, along with foreign affairs and national security matters such as the North Korean nuclear and missile programs and THAAD – and none of them will be easy to resolve.

Moon will need to lay out his vision for these issues during his Independence Day address on Aug. 15 – and receive an assessment of his first 100 days in office on Aug. 17 from politicians, civil society, and the media – before working to produce results in legislation and budget terms at the first regular session of the National Assembly, which begins on Sep. 1. It’s a process littered with far more obstacles than the last three months have seen.

Since taking office on May 10, Moon has focused his work directives and speeches on breaking with deep-rooted vices and clearing away the negative legacy left by nine years of conservative administrations. This has included issuing a declaration of zero irregular jobs in the public sector; ordering the abolition state-issued history textbooks; recognizing an hourly teacher’s death in the Sewol ferry sinking as having occurred in the line of duty; conducting an audit on the alleged exchange of money envelopes at dinner parties by prosecutors; permanently opening six weirs on the Four Major Rivers; going public with the Ministry of National Defense’s omission of a THAAD launcher delivery report; launching a committee for the reform and development of the National Intelligence Service; ordering blind hiring in the public sector; opening the road in front of the Blue House up on a 24-hour basis; continuing to disclose Blue House documents from the previous administration; and launching a task force to examine the comfort women agreement reached by the South Korean and Japanese governments on Dec. 28, 2015. These steps have been welcomed by the public, earning Moon an approval rating in the high 70% range.

But from now on will be a different story. Foreign affairs and national security issues are too difficult for South Korea to control on its own, while the introduction of post-nuclear power policies has led to intensifying controversy among residents of the affected regions, academics, and members of the public. The effects of real estate measures implemented on Aug. 2 – with the declaration that there would “not be another failure” – could well prove to be the biggest blow against the administration. Increases in the minimum wage and taxes are being met with pressure from both the left, which is demanding bolder action, and right, which has accused the administration of ignoring reality. In some cases, Moon’s actions have caused divisions among his own supporters, including his order to temporarily deploy four additional THAAD launchers.

“Things have gone smoothly up to now because he’s been targeting ‘public enemies,’ but the issues from now on are cases where there are different interests at stake and the benefits have to be divided,” said a ruling party lawmaker. Also on the list are prosecutorial reforms and normalization of the media, which have yet to enter full swing.

In most of these cases, the administration has both justification for acting and the support of the public. In terms of pace, the Moon administration can hardly be accused of moving too quickly, given that it came into office in May rather than in February like past administrations, and therefore faces its first regular session of the National Assembly after just three months. The problem is that the many issues will ultimately need to be addressed through legislation by the National Assembly.

To begin with, the National Assembly will need to pass 17 bills (some overlapping) on real estate measures and tax system revisions. Ninety-one of the Moon administration’s 100 governance tasks will need to be backed by legislative measures, requiring 465 legal amendments alone. This means almost nothing can be achieved without the opposition’s help. It’s also the reason voices of concern have started to emerge from the ruling Minjoo Party.

“The issues that emerged over the five years of the Roh Moo-hyun administration [2003-08] have all come cropping up in the space of less than 100 days,” said one Minjoo Party lawmaker.

“The battle fronts are just too broad for the strength of the Minjoo Party, which doesn’t even have a majority,” the lawmaker said.

Indeed, the opposition – previously in disarray after losing its focal point – has starting speaking out more loudly. Members of its leadership have said they cannot continue to help out when there are differences in approach and predicted things will starting getting hot from here on out.

Now facing the end of the honeymoon period and the start of the real game, Moon and the ruling party will need to survey their surroundings and craft a careful strategy. Both the ruling and opposition sides have been calling on the administration to reexamine its priorities and implementation plans – and to assign the Prime Minister and party responsibility on issues previously left to the President. More active communication will also be needed with the opposition, which continues to complain that there is nobody in the administration explaining things or asking for help on security and economic issues.

By Hwang Joon-bum, staff reporter

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