What the back of a politician means

A person’s back may sum up his or her life, but can determine a country’s destiny.

JUNG KANG-HYUNThe author is a Washington correspondent of JTBC. A person’s back is a summary of his life. Just like the last page of a complicated novel, the back of a person departing from a chapter of his or her life certainly contains a piece of truth.

The day after I was posted as a Washington correspondent, I came across a person’s back. U.S. President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race due to pressure. It must have been a political decision, but I am more interested in his personal agony.

The Oval Office where he gave the speech to resign from his candidacy was filled with family photos. His family dissuaded him from quitting the race. So Biden projected himself as a determined old politician who gave up his rebid for the presidency. The announcement also testified to his sorry feelings as a grandfather, father and husband.

The outcome of his resignation is just as we know it: Biden’s back is the front side of Kamala Harris. The support for Trump’s victory began to shake, and voices predicting a Democratic victory has cautiously emerged.

It’s not easy for politicians to voluntarily turn around at the height of power. Therefore, Biden’s determined back is most likely the results of his intense personal anguish to suppress his desire as a politician.

Coincidentally, the obituary of singer Kim Min-gi was released in the Korean media on the same day Biden decided to quit the race. Kim was an artist who called himself “the man in the back” and wanted to remain behind the scenes. The lyrics of his famous song “The Peak” goes like this: “People raise their hands and only point at the high — and pointed — peaks.”

By choosing to come down from the peak, Biden gave a rare vitality to American politics. He’s a politician who starts generational change when his party is in crisis. Regardless of political inclination, he will be revered for his determination in the future.

Watching the determined back of the 82-year-old politician, I felt bitter to think about Korean political leaders still bent on climbing only “high and pointed peaks.” Now, the governing People Power Party (PPP) and the majority Democratic Party (DP) have elected or will elect their new party leaders amid all the controversies over the “pro-Yoon Suk Yeol faction” in the PPP and the DP overwhelmingly dominated by its former leader.

Though many say that leaders need to have the “back” to bide their time rather than coming to the frontline, they are eager to take control of their parties.

But a country’s fate may depend on politicians who know when to step down. A person’s back may sum up his or her life, but can determine a country’s destiny.