The Real Reason Behind the Conflict Between Moon Jae-in and Yoon Seok-yeol

The conflict between President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol is escalating. The two have not met even once since the presidential election ended.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The presidential election is over, but it feels like it’s not really over. Only the opponent has changed, yet verbal attacks continue to fly. It is a conflict between President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol. Fights are breaking out everywhere. This is unprecedented in our political history. The concerns of those watching are great. Why has the conflict between the current power and the future power escalated to this extent? Why and where did it start to unravel?

When analyzing leadership, there are many factors, but the core is personality. The environment in which a leader grew up, their usual behavior, and decision-making style greatly influence governance. Representative examples are former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye. Former President Lee, who succeeded as a businessman, and former President Park, who entered politics after 18 years of seclusion, had their growth processes and personalities directly reflected in their governance. As former lawmaker Jeong Du-eon diagnosed, former President Lee practiced ‘business politics,’ while former President Park fell into ‘door-handle politics’ that led to the state affairs manipulation scandal.

The current conflict between the old and new powers should basically be viewed in this context. In short, beneath the clash between Moon Jae-in and Yoon Seok-yeol lies a ‘principled personality,’ or in other words, ‘stubbornness.’ Discrepancies in personnel matters, such as the appointment of audit committee members, are merely secondary phenomena arising from this. According to former President Roh Moo-hyun’s description, President Moon is a principled person. He lacks flexibility. It is also worth noting that he prefers reading books over meeting people. President-elect Yoon is the type who just pushes straight ahead once he makes a decision. One of his close aides said, “His stubbornness is extraordinary.” The process by which President-elect Yoon pushed for the ‘Yongsan office’ resembles how he bypassed Representative Lee Jun-seok and joined the People Power Party. He pushes forward. Moon Jae-in and Yoon Seok-yeol are different yet similar.

In The Principles of Power, written by Julie Battilana, a professor at Harvard Business School, and Tiziana Casciaro, a professor at the University of Toronto, there are notable insights about power. This book, which prides itself as ‘the best guide to power and influence that moves the world,’ contains the following passage: “Once people gain power, their respect and empathy for others tend to decrease, and they start thinking egocentrically. At the same time, impulsiveness increases, and the belief that ‘I am special’ takes root. When people have power, they become obsessed with the idea that nothing and no one can resist them.” Perhaps this is why power is likened to fire and power is like a drug.

Behind the clash between the current and future powers lie conflicts over the appointment of the Bank of Korea governor, a tug-of-war regarding the appointment of audit committee members, and attempts to consolidate support bases ahead of local elections. The reality is that a power struggle is unfolding around laying the groundwork for future political coalition-building and post-inauguration tasks. This may even be linked to the political fate of the two. If their personalities are Mount Everest, these are the peaks.

President Moon will soon step down. The maxim he should recall now is “losing is winning.” President-elect Yoon will soon be inaugurated. The maxim he should remember now is “power is to be shared.” Since both have strong personalities, it will not be easy for them to accept these maxims as they are. They will have to meet eventually, but they have grown too far apart. Therefore, the current conflict is only the prologue. The likelihood that President-elect Yoon will change once he becomes the current power is low. This is especially true because Yoon’s ‘straight-ahead approach’ has yet to fully reveal itself.

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