Commentary 5 Moses Lee (이모세) 2018230013 After the recent peace negotiations between South Korea and North Korea, I searched for President Moon Jae In’s approval ratings out of curiosity, during which I came across an article published by the Hankyeoreh on the 2nd of May, 2018. According to the article, President Moon’s approval rating has escalated to 78.3 percent, which is so far the highest compared to that any of the former presidents of Korea. After reading this article, I began to wonder how President Moon was able to gain such popularity to the point where even 17.1 percent of the supporters of Liberty National Party approve of his presidency. To answer this question, I decided to use the four theories of leadership (leadership as a natural gift, leadership as a sociological phenomenon, leadership as an organizational necessity and leadership as a political skill), which I believe may be able to explain President Moon’s high approval ratings. Then I will also analyze why President Moon’s leadership is not and will not be a personalized leadership that results in authoritarianism, as claimed by Hong Jun Pyo, the leader of the Liberty National Party. Finally, I will conclude with a short explanation of how this reading helped me to better understand chapter 13’s concepts. To start off, from the point of view that sees leadership as a natural gift, it seems that President Moon was a ‘man of destiny,’ someone ‘who was marked out from the moment of birth to rule’ (page 301, chapter 13, Politics, Heywood). To elaborate, from this perspective, President Moon can be seen as a person who was born with qualities that were prerequisite for becoming the president of South Korea. For instance, despite the fact that he was born in a very poor family, he managed to graduate valedictorian of Gyeongbuk high school, considered one of the most elite high schools in Korea. Later on at Kyunghee University, he further showed his suitability as the future leader of South Korea through the charisma he displayed whilst demonstrating against the oppressive authoritarian regime of Park Jeong Hee. He continued to prove unknowingly that he is a ‘man of destiny’ by showing his strong charisma as a human rights lawyer and through the talented oratory skills that he displayed whilst serving as the Chief Presidential Secretary of South Korea under Roh Moo Hyun’s administration. As he had such innate qualities, it is not a surprise that he is such a popular figure who has been able to have an approval rating of more than 70 percent. The above theory has its drawbacks in that it creates a cult of personality for President Moon, which I personally find unfitting and somewhat disturbing. So, now, I will deal with the second perspective, which seems a little more appropriate than that of the first. This point of view, which sees leadership as a sociological phenomenon, would claim that President Moon was only able to seize power and have such a high approval rating owing to socio-historical forces. To be specific, those who view leadership as a sociological rather than a logical phenomenon would say that it was the frustrations of the middle class of South Korea, who were oppressed by the upper class, which consists of chaebols, rich Gangnam Ajuma’s like Choi Sun Shil and corrupt politicians, that necessitated Moon Jae In to become president. The middle class, unable to bear its frequent exploitation, eventually rebelled against the oppressive government of President Park by creating a movement known as the candlelight vigils of Gwanghwamun. As Moon Jae In was an active advocate of that movement, it was only natural that he became the succeeding president. Therefore, it was not President Moon’s innate qualities that made him president, according to this theory; rather, it Commentary 5 Moses Lee (이모세) 2018230013 was the economic and sociological factors. Also, it is owing to these factors that President Moon has such a high approval rating, as the majority of the population still consists of the same people whom President Moon is supposed to be representing. In addition to the two theories above, the third theory that might be able to explain why Moon Jae In became president. However, it fails to explain why President Moon has such a high approval rating. According to this theory, which sees leadership as an organizational necessity, leaders are selected from a rational-legal process that can be described as “essentially impersonal and based on formal, usually written, rules” (page 303, chapter 13, Politics, Heywood). Therefore, from the perspective of this theory, President Moon was elected into office not because of his charisma or other factors but because of the “need for coherence, unity and direction” (page 303, chapter 13, Politics, Heywood). Finally, the theory that sees leadership as a political skill might be able to explain why President Moon was elected into office and why President Moon has such a high approval rating. According to this theory, one of the key characteristics that a modern democratic politician needs to have in order to successfully gain people’s approval is emotional intelligence. To be specific, Greenstein (2009), a scholar who developed this concept of ‘emotional intelligence’ to explain Barak Obama’s success as president during his early years of office, mentions that emotional intelligence is the ability of being able to demonstrate ‘self-awareness,’ ‘self-management,’ ‘empathy’ and ‘relationship management’ (page 304, chapter 13, Politics, Heywood). Those who adhere to the idea that leadership is a political skill will use this concept of emotional intelligence to say that President Moon was elected into office as he was able to demonstrate all four of those qualities when he sincerely expressed his sympathy for the victims of the Sewol Ferry incident and when he protested alongside the demonstrators during the candle light vigil of Gwanghwamun square. It was the demonstration of these four qualities once more during the South Korea and North Korea negotiation, the advocates of this theory would claim, that allowed him to gain the high approval that he enjoys today. Were it not for the demonstration of such qualities, those who adhere to this theory would claim that President Moon would neither have been elected into office nor have been able to enjoy an approval rating that is above 70 percent. Now, although President Moon may be a president who demonstrates much leadership and charisma, as mentioned above, he will by no means transform his leadership into a personalized one that may result in authoritarianism, which is what representative Hong of the Liberty National Party claimed according to Hankyeoreh. The reason behind this assertion is that President Moon has dedicated his whole life to the bettering of poor and disadvantaged people as well as to the advancement of democracy. As a result, he will probably not suddenly transform South Korea into an authoritarian nation. Considering this fact, it seems very absurd that representative Hong makes such a frivolous statement. To sum up, the article mentioned at the beginning of my commentary helped me to better understand chapter 13’s concept of leadership. Specifically, by using the theories of leadership to analyze how President Moon was able to gain power and why President Moon Commentary 5 Moses Lee (이모세) 2018230013 has such a high approval rating helped me to gain a firm grasp of many confusing concepts mentioned in this chapter. Sources: 1. http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/politics/assembly/843112.html 2. http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/international/america/836384.html 3. http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/politics/polibar/837680.html 4. Heywood, Andrew. Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
