[USFK Forums] The Right Woman to Lead the Consensus? [Chosun]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Saturday, March 25, 2006

The Right Woman to Lead the Consensus?

The Chosun Ilbo: Updated Mar.24,2006 22:24 KST

President Roh Moo-hyun on Thursday night nominated Han Myung-suk of the ruling Uri Party as the nation's next prime minister. If the nomination is confirmed, she will become the nation's first woman prime minister.
Han, a two-time lawmaker, has served as minister of gender equality and of environment and member of the ruling party's standing committee. Yet most people have no strong impression of Han despite her political career.

It suggests she did neither good nor bad as a public servant and has good relations with her colleagues thanks to a likeable personality. It could turn out to be a strength, in the current political situation, that she has no serious flaws either as a politician or a person. Too many government officials and ruling-party leaders have stood out in word and deed over the last three years, rarely for the better.

Now Han must take a long look at her attitudes about important national affairs. She will no longer be one of many lawmakers but play a leading role in shaping Korean policy. Han was among those behind a bill to abolish the National Security Law, a move the majority of Koreans oppose. She has been negative about the U.S. legislature passing the North Korean Human Rights Act, and when Washington accused the North of counterfeiting U.S. dollars, she said it was setting back efforts to establish peace on the peninsula.

It is likely that she still maintains the views of diplomacy and national security of the 1970s and 80s university campus, when she was part of the pro-democracy movement. If she deals with North Korean issues with that mindset once she becomes prime minister, it could make matters worse.


url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/ht...603240035.html

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