How to be as light as a feather

The minister is currently not a political fighter, but a public servant.

Koh Hyun-kohn

The author is the executive editor of the JoongAng Ilbo. My drive from Jamsil, Seoul to Yangypeong County Office, Gyeonggi took one hour and 40 minutes in the morning last weekend. Route 6 connecting east and west is notorious for traffic congestion. To solve the chronic problem, an expressway between Seoul and Yangpyeong had been pushed for 120,000 residents in the county and travelers. If a highway is built, it can cut the time to 30 minutes.

Forty days have passed since the construction project was suspended. No one knows when it will resume. The rivalling politicians are forever wrangling, but the government worsened the situation this time. When suspicion over the change of the route — allegedly in favor the president’s in-law family — first arose, the government should have checked it. If no procedural problems were found, the government should have pushed the construction as planned — or fixed it if problems were found. And if such suspicion was ungrounded, the government should have tracked down spreaders of the suspicion and accuse them. That is the right and responsibility of the government.

But Won Hee-ryong, the minister of land, infrastructure and transport, decided to scrap the project altogether by skipping a verification process. He should have dealt with the issue with extra care, since it involved the first lady. But the land minister responded emotionally. “I’d rather suspend the construction instead of enduring one suspicion after another,” he said. “If the expressway is really needed, it can be carried out by the next administration.” His logic was weak and ridiculous, as he was only concerned about avoiding controversy. There was no trace of deliberation on the consequences of canceling the construction project.

Won vowed to stake his ministerial post on proving his sincerity. He made a similar promise when the reconstruction of the First New Town project caused controversy last year. “I will make sure the construction project is not delayed no matter what,” he said. The minister seems to regard his job as some sort of a weapon. But the people won’t agree.

Blaming others has become a chronic habit for policymakers whether they come from the liberal or conservative front. The local government, the central government, and the rivalling parties are only worsening the international disgrace from the fiasco of the 2023 World Scout Jamboree with their fiery blame game.

The Seoul-Yangpyeong highway is a long-awaited project for local residents. Whether the destination should be the same as the original plan in 2017 or should be changed as in the revision or an interchange should be added must be decided by experts. What’s clear is that the construction should be resumed as soon as possible. The minister should know better. But he has put himself in a dilemma with his over-the-top rhetoric. Whenever drivers pass through the heavily congested Route 6, they will be naturally reminded of the minister.

The minister is making endless excuses to find a way out of the conundrum. He offered to renew the construction if the Democratic Party (DP) apologizes for the “ludicrous accusation” against the first lady. But the party won’t apologize. It had not budged an inch even with ample evidence against former justice minister Cho Kuk on the charges of favoritism for his children.

In the meantime, Won’s excuses are getting longer and confusing. “The highway construction project is suspended, not cancelled. If the dispute is drawn out, it could be upended” or “It would be best if the DP apologizes, but if it doesn’t, we will build a highway as fast as possible after reflecting the opinions of experts and resident.”

It is really blurry whether he means to go on with the project or not. Why did he threaten to nullify the project in the first place? The ministry said that was a kind of a “shock” therapy. But a government should not have played on the people.

Won Hee-ryong, center, the minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, receives questions from reporters about the suspended construction of a highway linking Seoul and Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi, at the Communication Hall in the National Assembly, July 6. [NEWS1]

This affair cannot be passed, as it is damaging the people. First, we must ask whether a 1.8 trillion won ($1.3 billion) state project can be suddenly overturned by a minister. That was not possible even under the military regime of Park Chung Hee. The minister said he made the decision to cancel the project without prior discussion with the president. If not the president, he should have discussed with the prime minister or the finance minister who oversees budgetary discretion. If the decision was made alone, the governance system must be seriously flawed. If his idea came from coordination, then he lied. Either way, he has erred in a big way. Why the president, prime minister, and other cabinet ministers are keeping mum is also strange. Since the issue has attracted national attention, it cannot be just the minister’s problem. The government must either back him or find him accountable for causing the controversy.

The minister has been the most loyal since President Yoon Suk Yeol was elected. He may have gained confidence from his methodical attacks on Yoon’s presidential rival Lee Jae-myung over the suspicious Daejang-dong development project. But overconfidence can always be self-ruining. The minister is currently not a political fighter, but a public servant. He must pay heed to the appeal from Yangpyeong residents. He had better go back to the teachings on modesty from Chung Yak-yong, a prominent scholar in the Joseon Dynasty. “Those who elevate themselves are pulled down by others and those who humble themselves are elevated by others,” the scholar preached 200 hundred years ago.