South Korea needs both continuity and change

Park Geun-hye’s victory in the South Korean election demonstrated one truth: economics and common sense in security matter the most. Like Japanese voters, the South Korean electorate spoke up for change. They also picked Park over her opponent, Moon Jae-in, because they think she can be relied on as the country’s first female president. However, it will be a tough ride for the new leader.

After the economic crisis in 1997, South Korea transformed itself from a country that lacked good discipline and governance into a super state with super products and the soft power that comes with it. Now, South Korea, with or without “Gangnam Style”, is a world economic power. But the country will always feel insecure because of North Korea’s constant threats. The North’s recent rocket launch was a case in point. It has concerned people not only in South Korea and the region, but all over the world. Therefore, Park must score in the security area, where outgoing president Lee Myong-back failed to achieve a broader peace and security situation on the peninsula.

Of course, being the daughter of the country’s former dictator, Park Chung-hee has helped her name recognition. But Park is also a political heavyweight in her own right. She developed politically during her father’s reign and, afterwards, on her own. She was defeated by Lee in the 2007 race but now she is back, and she has a long wish list. Her critics, especially Moon, say that she will rule South Korea in an authoritarian style, like her father. But given the reality inside the country, it is now almost impossible to tighten the screw on South Korea, which is an open society with cultural dynamism.

With Park as the South’s new president, North Korea will have to work harder to mend fences with its southern neighbour. Ties between North and South deteriorated due to the political transition in Pyongyang after the death of Kim Jong-il. It has become clear that the new leader, Kim Jong-un is no different from his father. It seems that he will proceed with the goal of making North Korea a nuclear weapons state. Park might not be as enthusiatic as her predecessor in providing humanitarian aid to North Korea if it continues to be intransigent. Of course, like her father, she wants to see the eventual unification of the two Koreas, but it must be led by the south. Over the past decade, South Korea has adopted a very tolerant policy towards the North, with the long-standing hope that the two will come together one day.

South Korea also feels insecure because of a rising China and a more assertive Japan. Disputes over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea do not augur well for the future economic integration processes within the region. This will have a direct impact on community-building in Asean as well. 

It is imperative that South Korea ups the ante on the Korean peninsula, making sure that peaceful reunification of the two Koreas is possible. That way, a unified Korea would be in a better position to negotiate with China and other worls powers.

Park is leading South Korea into a new era. What will the new South Korea look like? Only she knows.