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Lee, the ‘bulldozer’ president, burying South Korea’s democracy

by Theresa Kim Hwa-young
Dissatisfaction is growing in the country against the president’s hands-on, unilateral style of politics, dismissive of the opposition. He is blamed for weakening parliament’s role in favour of his image as a ‘strongman’ at the helm of the nation.
Seoul (AsiaNews) – Dissatisfaction with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s style of government is growing following a state visit by US President George Bush. Nick-named ‘bulldozer’ for his way of carrying out his duties, he has come under attack from opposition parties and civil rights activists for his unilateralism, especially in the last two months, that is since protesters took to the street against US beef imports.

At that time, Lee had apologized for ignoring public health concerns about US beef imports. Since then he has appeared only more determined to reinforce his “get-the-job-done” image whilst ignoring both public opinion and opposition parties.

Case in point: on 6 August, he appointed three new ministers for the education, agriculture and welfare portfolios without parliamentary confirmation hearings, sparking protests by the opposition which wanted to be part of the selection process.

A few days before the announcement, Democratic Party leader Chung Se-kyun warned that if the Presidency “goes ahead with the appointments, we will regard it as a declaration of war against the opposition parties.” For this reason he urged the president to accept his offer of dialogue. The warning was ignored however.

Similarly the Office of the Presidency also appears to be pressing ahead with a move to fire state-run KBS President Jung Yun-joo in order to tighten its grip on the public broadcaster.

Last but not least Lee Myung-bak has been criticised for weakening the legislative branch of government, which has not met for the past 20 days.

Critics are increasingly opposed to his unilateralism and his failure to gain the public’s approval.