Korea is writing history without an accident. The 19th presidential election ended with Moon Jae-In’s victory after all the close attention worldwide. Now, Korea needs to go forward united altogether – the ship, Korea, has a new captain with Mr. Moon Jae-In. This is democracy, and a destiny which all the people of such nation needs to accept with maturity regardless of the different opinions and differences – a genuine ‘unification and reformation’.
Let us look back and evaluate what this election meant to everyone involved. The overall election poll rose by 1.4% relative to the previous 18th presidential election that ended with 77.2%. This number is rather lower than one expected since the macro environment such as impeachment and many others certainly led people to think that the actual election poll should have been higher. Perhaps it could be taken to a fact that such difficult situation in this turmoil has led people to abandon its voting right? Yes, it could have been an expression by the people of the nation that renouncing the vote itself was an actual anguish – in other words, this indirectly signified that the people weren’t sure who the right candidate to lead this country was. This isn’t an article to support those people, who have abandoned the voting rights, as being the writer myself, was not entirely convinced whom to vote until the last minute.
They say that election is the flower of democracy, and therefore, is a duty and obligation to submit and accept to the ultimate result. However one should not forget that this does not entirely mean the solution to democracy because election is simply one of the tools in selecting the leader of the nation. Thereupon, the winner must accept the result with humbleness, and must not forget his or her youthful times when the candidate was a challenger to be elected as a president – meaning that the new president must not become arrogant after all. Let the new president not forget that perhaps a different candidate could have been a better fit to this job, and therefore, the president needs to take this position with humble and graceful attitude.
The new president must not deceive the people with the promises he has shown during the presidential campaign. There could be a potential concern thatthe transition team could neglect the process of transition of power in a gradual manner. Therefore it is imperative for President Moon to quickly set up his own cabinet that matches his philosophy for efficient leadership of the country. Furthermore, he must solve immediate issues one at a time with priorities to be resolved.
In the meantime, the most priority would be to unify the divided people into one – those of the far right conservative people to the left reformists. President Moon has received the most votes, but on the contrary has also received the most opposition votes at the same time, and therefore needs a unified nation with one people.
It must be known that neglecting the laws stated under the constitution such as separating religion from politics, manipulation of power by the prosecutors in a wrongful way and many others will have a catastrophic result should this current administration continue as with ex-President Park’s cabinet. Thereupon, this administration needs abide by the law and constitution, yet show the most efficient leadership in this difficult circumstance.
This 19th presidential election has been watched by the world. Choi Soon-Shil’s manipulation, impeachment of ex-President Park Geun-Hye, and the complicated international affairs of the Korean peninsula – it was a victory of the Korean people in showing the world how the people always overcome the hardships and challenges. The writer requests for a ‘Korean Doctrine’ to overcome such complicated domestic and international affairs so that the nation truly stands up with dignity.