What’s Wrong with Nomuheon’s Government?

Since Korea became independent and started self-governing in 1945, its citizens have never fully supported presidential administrations in power. Lee Song Man, the first president of Korea, went into exile after citizens demonstrated because of unfair elections. He never made it back to Korea. Park Jung Hee initiated various economic policies, but his policies increased the gap between the rich and the rest of a nation. In the end, he was assassinated. Kim Dae-Jung, who won the Nobel Peace Prize (=Novel prize for peace) by improving the relationship between the North and South Korea, took the blame when it was discovered (found) that he secretly spent 3 billion dollars on the “Sunshine” policy. As we stand now in the beginning of 2006, citizens blame Nomuheon, who was expected to save Korea from its continuing economic depression, for failing to accomplish his original goal. Then, what are the substantial problems of Nomuheon’s government now and the reasons why he lost the citizens’ approval?

            First of all, Nomuheon failed to develop the economy by 5 percent per year. Since the Korean economic crisis broke out, solving the economic problems is a priority. Many citizens suffered from a bad economy; as a result, people wanted a president who would completely solve economic problems, thus the people elected Nomuheon. But he didn’t satisfy the nation’s needs. He didn’t succeed in returning the economy to the way it was before. Most governments of other nations had similar problems, but Korea was especially worse off than other countries. This was the main reason why he lost the approval of citizens.

              Second, his speeches were problematic. During the debates against the opposing parties, he often misused words. Citizens often talk about his wrong words and provincial accent—to the point of it being a hot topic. He often crossed the line when aggrieving his opponent by telling opponent’s past. More and more, he showed dogmatic actions. Finally he angered people by showing little interest in the economy.

            Third, he lost the confidence of America. America is the mightiest ally which has helped Korea both economically and militarily. Many people in Korea support America’s presence in Korea. Some of Nomuheon’s policies countered the original policies toward America. Such policies disappointed America and Korea now has to take on the financial burden of building the military. This was another reason why he lost approval.

            It’s not that Nomuheon always did disappointing things. In fact, he showed strong leadership in the debate against Japan. He visited many other nations to improve international relations. However, to become a better president, what he needs most is a more active participation in economic affairs.

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