[Opinion] One Word from the President

President Yoon Suk-yeol's remarks have grown stronger. At an event hosted by the Korea Freedom Federation, he criticized, saying, "Anti-state forces pleaded with the United Nations Security Council to lift sanctions against the North Korean communist group and went around singing about a declaration of the end of the war that would dismantle the UN Command." Since it was the Moon Jae-in administration that pushed for the declaration of the end of the war, there was backlash that the previous government was being labeled as ‘anti-state forces.’ Although the presidential office explained that "this was not aimed at the previous government or any specific political faction," it left people wondering who exactly President Yoon meant by ‘anti-state forces.’

Earlier, President Yoon harshly criticized the ‘killer questions’ on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). He condemned them as "playing tricks on our vulnerable children" and referred to the "cartel of the education authorities and the private education industry." Following his remarks, the head of the Ministry of Education’s college admissions division was dismissed, the president of the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation resigned, and Deputy Prime Minister Lee Ju-ho issued an apology. Soon after, tax investigations began targeting major private academies and ‘star instructors.’ At meetings with presidential secretaries appointed to vice ministerial positions, he urged, "If you discover predatory interest cartels, confront them boldly." This also raises curiosity about who exactly the president’s ‘interest cartels’ refer to.

Reports emerged that President Yoon was furious upon learning that the Ministry of Education was resolving personnel bottlenecks by exchanging national university administrative director positions with other ministries. He reportedly reacted strongly, saying, "How can this go completely against my instructions? This is an incomprehensible behavior." Startled, the Ministry of Education abolished the regulation that appointed civil servants to the national university administrative director positions and reinstated the appointed directors to their original departments.

The president’s stern words may have the effect of waking up complacent public officials. Indeed, practices such as dividing up the national university secretary-general positions despite presidential orders need to be corrected. However, governance should operate through systems, not by officials scrambling in surprise at a single angry remark from the president. Oversight of the cabinet is the prime minister’s responsibility, so it is also inappropriate for the president to intervene directly. Repeated presidential outbursts may produce temporary shock effects, but they risk creating a public service environment where officials only watch the president’s mood and where ‘yes-men’ survive.

When replacing the minister and deputy minister of the Ministry of Unification, President Yoon said, "Until now, the Ministry of Unification has acted almost like a North Korea aid department," adding, "That should not be the case. It is time for the Ministry of Unification to change." Even during periods of cooled inter-Korean relations, the Ministry of Unification has served as a channel for dialogue and exchange. However, with the president’s single remark, the fundamental identity of the Ministry of Unification, which has been maintained through successive governments, is now at risk of changing drastically.

A society where everything is judged and concluded by a single presidential remark is not normal. The president is not a judge assigned to distinguish good from evil. Especially, the president’s sharp words seemingly targeting opposing factions only intensify already serious division and confrontational politics. The ‘past-bashing’ style of governance has an expiration date. It is a lesson to learn from the Moon Jae-in administration, which spent five years focused solely on ‘clearing out deep-rooted evils’ and ended without progress. Now is the time to speak about one’s own responsibilities and vision rather than blaming previous governments or other factions.

Yoo Chang-sun, Political Commentator

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