Two awakenings from Trump's triumph

If they learn little from Trump’s return, they don’t deserve any hope.

Lee Sang-ryeolThe author is a senior editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo.

The stunning comeback of Donald Trump through a sweeping victory in the Nov. 5 presidential election should raise a sober reckoning for politicians on the other side of the Pacific. There are many resemblances between Korea and the exemplary nation of democracy.

Trump’s re-election is extraordinary in many ways. He’s the only president other than Grover Cleveland to win a second term after losing his first bid — and the first convicted felon ever to win a presidential election. He was found guilty of all counts in connection with falsifying records for a hush money payment to an adult film actor during his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on the case later this month and stands three other criminal trials plus a handful of civil suits.

Democrats tried their best to hype judiciary risks related to Trump, but to no avail. The Supreme Court in July recognized presidential immunity from criminal prosecution over acts committed while in office — specifically, his role of stoking the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. A court dismissed the case in which Trump was charged with multiple felony counts for hoarding and leaking classified documents. The conservatives on the bench on top of the red-hot campaign fever also may have played a part. The U.S. media now speculates that all of Trump’s legal problems will go away as he prepares to return to the White House.

The developments would be closely watched with a smirk by Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung who is on four trials for 11 counts in seven cases. The court’s first ruling on his alleged violation of the Public Official Election Act will be delivered on Nov. 15 and another first ruling on his alleged subornation of perjury will be handed out on Nov. 25. If found guilty, Lee and his party won’t accept the result and will appeal until the last minute.

They have already built up an innocence plea by questioning the prosecutorial investigations. The loss of confidence in the prosecution over the investigations on the first lady over her reception of a luxury handbag and involvement in a stock manipulation case works in their favor. It is uncertain whether the court will hasten with its proceedings to finalize its sentencing on the DP leader before the presidential election is held in March 2027. When trials are drawn out, Lee will likely take our politics down an unchartered path.

Trump’s triumph owes much to the incumbent Democrats’ economic mismanagement. As the Wall Street Journal pointed out, Trump won the “economy-is-everything” election. About 40 percent of voters said the economy was their top issue and, among them, 60 percent chose Trump even as the U.S. economy had been faring well. The GDP grew by 2.8 percent in the third quarter while the consumer price index rose by 2.4 percent and the unemployment rate stood modestly at 4.1 percent in September. Stock prices are at their record highs. Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, claimed the U.S. economy has never been better and that if he had to grade it, he would give it an A+.

But everyday people cannot agree. They are frustrated and anxious about the sticky high prices. Grocery prices are more than 20 percent higher than four years ago. The lending rates for housing mortgages and auto financing have not come down since the U.S. Federal Reserve yanked up the benchmark rates. People are tired and angry — a point Trump cleverly targeted. The election results reflected public discontent about Biden’s economic mismanagement.

The settings are similar in Korea. President Yoon Suk Yeol repeats the mantra that the economy is rebounding, but few men on the street agree with him. Bank loan rates and living expenses are still too high. Self-employed businesses are worse than during the financial and pandemic crisis days. Popular commercial districts downtown as well as in Gangnam in southern Seoul go dark after 9 p.m. Four out of 10 salaried workers are employed on an irregular basis. They earn 2.05 million won ($1,454) monthly on average — almost half the 3.8 million won paid on average to regular workers. That’s why the government’s boast of a record-high employment rate is met with scorn.

Both the president who passed the halfway point in his five-year term and the People Power Party (PPP), which hopes to hold onto the governing power after Yoon’s exit, are losing public confidence. Just look at the U.S. Democrats who suffered a crushing defeat in the election. Instead of waiting around for sentencing on the DP leader, the PPP and government must do their work. Rather than looking at the GDP and economic numbers, they must do something about soaring living costs and decreasing jobs. If they learn little from Trump’s return, they don’t deserve any hope.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.