hankyoreh

President Lee Myung-bak bowed his head before the people yesterday. It was the second such occasion since he was inaugurated. Reading the text of what he said, you do get the feeling he is far more earnest and full of feeling than he was when he issued that “statement to the nation” on May 22. He talked about how he felt watching the candlelight protests and explained how it came to be that his administration rushed to close a beef import agreement with the United States. He said he was “engaging in excruciating reflection” on how he misread public opinion opposing beef imports. He deserves credit for the fact the text of his statement contains indication he is going to look at the way he does things and will make his choices reflect the wishes of the people.

However, a “text in frank language” might not be enough to placate angry public opinion. What is important is change people can believe in. They need have faith that their demands are going to be reflected in policy so that there is an actual change in tone. The country wants substantial change more than flowery expressions.

Take the issue of greatest interest to everyone, that of importing American beef. The president said that “in no case will we have beef from animals older than 30 months on our meal tables,” but that statement alone is not going to ease the people's anxieties. While negotiations between the US and Korea are still underway, he said nothing about guaranteeing that the seven specified risk materials from cows younger than 30 months are removed or anything about our inspection quarantine sovereignty.

If President Lee really understands “the mindset of mothers worried about their childrens’ health,” he should have explained how exactly it is that he is going to make things better instead of going on at length about why renegotiations are going to be difficult. Even how effective a ban on imports of beef from animals over 30 months will be remains unclear. If he thought his explanation would be enough to make the people understand his position, we can only conclude that is because he still does not see the seriousness of the situation.

The Grand Korean Waterway is no different. President Lee said he “won’t pursue it if the people oppose it.” He added that he “fully has felt that any policy has to have public opinion behind it to succeed.” He is right about that much. The thing is, right now public opinion demands that he give up on the canal idea, and yet he still qualifies this with an “if the people oppose it,” and so it sounds like he still intends to follow his plan. All he has done is change the way he talks about this so that it is not as offensive; his approach has not changed, however, since he is still talking about waiting to see what the people have to say.

It was also hard to find evidence of a change of heart regarding the personnel reshuffle, something that has been talked about as a visible gesture to turn the political situation around. Asked whether he would be willing to even appoint people from progressive and centrist circles, he said that while “a good idea,” he insisted that he “can’t work with stability if we change people every time there is a problem.”

So it is hard to tell whether he is going to be casting his nets any wider when it comes to personnel appointments. If the country is to feel that President Lee has changed, they need to see him stop doing things like trying to appoint people close to him to positions of leadership in broadcasting, like at the YTN cable network.

Putting something into practice once will be more essential than a hundred words if the president wants the people to feel that he is sincere. In his press conference yesterday, however, it was hard to read any desire in him to really change anything in tangible ways. Honestly speaking, we worry that it is going to end up having been a lot of nice talk with no changes in how he runs his administration.

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