Roh, roh, roh your boat....out of South Korea

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2007/11/137_14325.html

I found the general concept here to be pretty funny. President Roh of South Korea seems to have a habit of talking too much, or as he puts it, "some of my language is unconstrained." Apparently he's a terrific leader otherwise, responsible for democratic reforms and fair-competition policies in South Korea (after a tradition of dictatorial rulers). And yet, despite his successes, the one thing that has undermined his tenure is his use of language, often improper or vulgar as the korea times op-ed puts it.

I remember on the AP Language test last year (shoutout?) there was a series of articles on the changing face of US politics, and how emphasis had shifted from policy to charisma. The parallel here is obvious, involving President Roh's unavoidable media presence and television's ability to broadcast his language to a large number of people. Regardless of his policy triumphs, his public face, the person that the citizenry relate to, is less dependent on his accomplishments than how he presents himself, and by extension, how he talks. Whether this is a sad truth for politics is up for debate, but it's a truth nonetheless, and evidently one that Roh didn't figure out.

"Just three months after taking office, he startled citizens by saying he feared he could "no longer stand being president.""

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/22/news/roh.php

"In December, he mocked critics of his attempts to reduce South Korea's military dependence on the United States as "clinging to the pants of the United States.""

"The same month he said of Japan and China: "In olden days, we Koreans were squeezed between Japan and China. Whenever Japan was unified and strong, they came over here and trampled on our people and ran amok. Whenever a new dynasty emerged in China, the Chinese came over here and wreaked havoc. Now we are strong enough to prevent such things from happening.""

Frankly, I admire the bluntness with which Roh addresses issues head -on, or aptly summarizes a non-pc state of events. But of course, there's a game to be played in politics and he's not playing it. His comments have been so controversial that in February, Roh was forced to leave the majority party...it would be a pity if a diplomatic yet dispassionate and aloof politician took his place.

Roh did show off a clever use of words as he departed from his party though - look at this:

"I know I'm to blame for making myself everyone's favorite target for criticism. But I also consider this a price I have to pay for democracy."

Sneakily, he's managed to tie his departure to the furthering of democracy, making him a very noble figure. It is kind of true though, in the sense that the previous dictatorial presidents would have been able to get away with such remarks easily, but Roh delegated away many presidential powers and safeguards. I guess in this way, the opinionated Roh is trapped in an unfortunate future.