[Yes and No] The Smart Ones in the Presidential Race

The sarcastic remark "Go study a bit more and come back" seems to be the most popular phrase in recent political circles. It is mainly used by relatively young and competent politicians to attack the older generation figures. Additionally, it is the perfect phrase to criticize so-called "underprepared" novices who were not originally politicians but suddenly summoned to the presidential race. A similar expression is "Go read some more books."

The presidential election is not a contest to pick the smartest Smurf. Protecting Smurf Village from the monster Gargamel is not about the intelligence of Brainy Smurf but the wisdom of Papa Smurf, who leads the community's unity. The Brainy Smurfs in the presidential race, mostly positioned in the opposition and a few in the ruling party, might ignore the lowbrow remarks about study and books rather than leadership and vision. Being well-versed in various statistics, terms, theories, or theses does not suddenly make them a leading presidential candidate.

In the past, a presidential candidate mocked such a level of ability by saying, "He is just someone who could be a director at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance." Even without his advice, our citizens can exercise collective intelligence to identify leaders of this era who have transcended the pride of being top of their class to finally acquire vision and character.

Nevertheless, I want to point out their words because they seem to side with a distorted notion of fairness. Their sudden overconfidence or sense of superiority about their own learning ability, and the attitude of treating knowledge as a kind of qualification or status. From that basis, scolding leading candidates by saying "If you haven't studied enough, run in the next presidential election" is an insult to the many citizens who support them. Instead of wasting time on that, it would be more rewarding for their future to deeply reflect on why their own approval ratings do not even reach Sun Dong-yeol's ERA.

In fact, the person who demonstrated the most outstanding ability in this field was former Unified Progressive Party leader Lee Jeong-hee. A national top scorer in university entrance exams, she fired sharp questions at Park Geun-hye, then the Saenuri Party candidate, during the 2012 presidential debate. Asking "Do you know how much this is?" and "Do you memorize this?" she, whether intentionally or not, uttered the words "I came to the presidential race to defeat candidate Park Geun-hye," effectively ending her political career. The regret is not her downfall but the fact that the nitpicking about "how much you know" did not properly verify the opposing candidate but rather contributed to Park's election by rallying her supporters.

Currently, there are several candidates in the presidential race who have not had a proper opportunity for verification by society but are gaining high approval ratings. Proper verification of these candidates is more important and urgent than anything else. This verification process must go far beyond how much they know or how sophisticated their diagnosis of specific issues is. Instead, it should focus on understanding what kind of life trajectory they have lived, what future they dream of, and what values they use to view the countless challenges of society, the nation, and humanity.

From that perspective, the frame of "candidates who need more study" put forward by the pseudo-intellectuals in the presidential race may be making the mistake of placing political novices who suddenly rose to the ranks of presidential candidates on too low a level of scrutiny. This could repeat the comedy where the Brainy Smurf Lee Jeong-hee tried to defeat Gargamel but instead helped make him president.

Shin Beom-su, Chief of Political Affairs

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.