Gyeonggi-do governor Kim Moon-soo—a politician I have a great deal of respect and admiration for, his recent troubles not withstanding—said at a recent event that Koreans needed to take pride in the fact that they built a thriving Republic of Korea from the ashes of war, and that it was a problem that all the Korean presidents who built, protected and developed Korea were treated worse than household dogs.
Great picture of Kim, too.
Mind you, I actually kinda, sorta agree… albeit with the caveat that it might be easier to afford these guys more respect if they hadn’t spent much of their administrations torturing dissidents, shaking down businesses for cash and ordering troops to storm their own cities.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I haven’t seen any presidential boshintang
Elected leaders are servants of the people, not vice-versa. If Kim Moon-soo thinks Korean presidents are treated poorly, he ought to see how Prime Ministers fare in Westminster systems, particularly during Question Time.
Personally, I think it’s one reason PMs (conservative and liberal) tend to be smarter than Presidents – they’re not as easily able to rely on scripted messages and PR teams, but are forced to explain and defend themselves in the public eye regularly, and if they’re not mentally agile and knowledgeable enough, they get found out very quickly.
Well, yes, I agree. But at the same time, Korean politics can be especially nasty, and have been since as least the Joseon Dynasty. It’s hard to get good people to become leaders when the environment is so toxic. It’s sort of like my comment section—I’ve lost a lot of good commenters over the years because of some of the nastiness that goes on. You don’t want a political system that pushes its shit to the top.
I suppose, though, if you’re top talent is staying out of politics, that’s probably a net positive for your country. And ultimately, Koreans don’t hate their politicians because of their sacrifices—see ex-Speaker Park Hee-tae…
They made their own beds,…..
If they can’t take the heat then,…..
Every dog has his day
I apologize.
Not speaking from any insider knowledge (my sources on the other side of the aisle is relatively thin,) but I really thought KMS would make a push for a presidential race right about now. I guess there still is time.
How refreshing to hear that the comment section pushes its shit to the top.
It has its moments, though. Admit it—you find it fun sometimes, too.
I would say any second-tier pol who doesn’t have the cajones to make a run for the presidency shouldn’t be complaining about how nasty the process is. That’s the job of the tisk-tisking, ain’t-it-a-shame-that’s-the-way-it-is op-ed commentariat. Nothing is less appealing than pols complaining about how hard it is to be a politician, and there is more than a whiff of self-pitying aggrandizing by KMS to declare him unpresidential, whatever other merits he may have.
As for RK’s observation about lost commentators, I agree…kinda. On the one hand, I genuinely miss the comments by the likes of Weikuboy and wjk and lollabrats and netkim and, well, you get the idea.
On the other hand, what does it say about would-be commenters that even hiding behind the anonymity of online aliases doesn’t seem to provide these dear souls with a sense of detachment? I mean, my gawd, if posting on a (relatively) obscure website on (relatively) obscure Korean matters behind the protection of a fake name isn’t enough, maybe some folks just aren’t cut out for prolonged participation in the rough and tumble of public debate.
Besides, if President Obama can put up with the crypto-racism of the Teabagging birther crowd and those hicks who, for absolutely no ulterior reason at all — honestly — can’t mention his name without referring, hint, hint, code, code, to his middle name, well, then, just what the hell is KMS complaining about?
DLB
Yes, but I would gladly exchange what fun I get with some enlightened exchanges. A lot of good Korea-minds read this blog, as you know. It would be nice if they could engage in a long-form conversation, instead of shit-slinging.
^^^ in response to RJK @6.
Shit doesn’t need a push it floats to the top naturally!
For a person known to open his debates with “Let me add one more thing – Fuck Off” thats a very interesting sentiment.
A Japanese woman suggested Korean politicians are happy, because the worst thing that can happen to a politician is indifference of people.
http://sayaka.tistory.com/entry/한국정치인들은-행복하겠다
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