The good, the bad and the ugly

I hope our lawmakers to learn manners before being elected lawmakers.

Chung Jeh-wonThe author is the culture and sports news director of the JoongAng Ilbo. “How old are you?” “I was born in 1968.” “If so, you are not 50 years old yet.” “No.” “Has giving irrelevant answers become your habit?” “No.” “A man who’s not 50 yet must not make remarks ridiculing the representatives of the people in the National Assembly.”

The conversation took place in the legislature’s audit of the government in December 2016. The questioner was a lawmaker and the answerer was a corporate leader. The legislator was just two years older than the chairman of a large business group. The lawmaker later suffered from a strong backlash from the public over his arrogance. Even chairmen of conglomerates can be criticized for their wrongdoings, but the lawmaker certainly went too far as he hurled insults at the chairman by mentioning his age.

Eight years have passed since, but the situation has not changed much. While watching our lawmakers’ overbearing audits over the past three weeks, I felt embarrassed again. I wondered if they can really represent the people. I couldn’t find any relevance to overseeing the performance of the government. Audit sessions only serve as a battleground for exchanging insults and curses between the governing and opposition parties.

I could hardly find any lawmakers with courtesy and decency. Wouldn’t it be better for voters to assess the performance and integrity of our legislators and screen them out if they are substandard? I looked into what’s really going on in the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee during its audit of the government. The committee is just one of the 17 standing committees in the National Assembly.

The most noteworthy lawmaker of the committee was Rep. Kang Yu-jung. Maintaining calmness throughout the audit, she attacked related government offices and other agencies solely based on objective data and facts. For instance, the lawmaker denounced the lax administration of the Korea Football Association (KFA) and asked why officials from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism landed jobs at the KFA after retirement in the past. That’s a well-known fact in the sport world, but no one raised the issue until that moment. “How could the ministry properly monitor the KFA under such circumstances?” she asked. The representative was right.

Rep. Park Jeong-ha also deserves praise. Based on concrete data, he presented clear evidence of a lie by the head of a public organization. The lawmaker even played a recorded audio file during the audit of the Korean Sports & Olympic Committee (KSOC) to prove that Lee Kee-heung, its powerful chief, did criticize both the government and the legislature in a private conversation. Upon hearing his own voice, Lee immediately apologized for telling a lie.

Rep. Kim Seung-su also deserves a compliment for his cool attitude. Without being excited — and solely based on numbers — he condemned the KFA’s habit of splurging money. Pointing to the “privatization of the KFA,” the lawmaker revealed that its president had given more than 4 billion won ($2.9 million) to one of his aides as personnel expenses.

Rep. Chun Jae-soo, chairman of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, was not bad, either. He at least tried to give lawmakers enough time to ask questions to public servants and witnesses instead of holding the mic for too long.

But there were many who still shouted at officials and witnesses as if it had been an oratorical contest. The worst comment came from a first-term lawmaker of the Democratic Party. He defined the performance by Korean traditional musicians at an event attended by the first lady as a “geisha party.” Another lawmaker, a former member of Team Korea in international handball competitions, provoked controversy after siding with the two heads of KSOC and KFA, both of whom want to extend their second and third terms by another term. The legislator took a position completely detached from public sentiment.

I found a common denominator of those combative lawmakers: They raise their voice when they lack expertise or logic. The National Assembly is still full of lawmakers refusing to get off their high horse. Instead, they say “Shut up!” to officials and witnesses without listening to what they say. That was accepted in the past, but not today. Korea already produced the marvelous sports and cultural brigade of Son Heung-min, BTS and Blackpink, but why are our legislators still substandard?

Edmund Burke, the British statesman in the 18th century, famously said, “Manners are of more importance than laws.” I hope our lawmakers to learn manners before being elected as lawmakers.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.