(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on Oct. 14) Radio address

YONHAP - President Lee Myung-bak's regular radio address, which started Monday, is a desperate measure to restore popular confidence in his administration.

In this first broadcast he emphasized the government is able and ready to tide
over the current economic difficulties, while calling for national unity through
voluntary cooperation from private businesses and the general public.
It would look a bit cold-hearted to disparage the President's message ??? and
even his method ??? if all this is meant for candid communication with the
people.
The content of the address was also passable ??? if a little too plain ??? in a
tone free and easy rather than hard and fast, like that of the U.S. "fireside
chats" it tried to benchmark. Notably lacking was any resolve for self-sacrifice
on the part of the government, though.
Taking most factors into account, however, the initial impression of the
presidential address is rather negative, raising doubts about whether it can ???
and should ??? go on for long, not least because of the internal troubles the
three major broadcast networks underwent in deciding whether to air, or not to
air the speech, reflecting various problems in it.
Most of all, the motivation behind the direct address to the people is wrongly
based on misjudgment.
President Lee appears to think his government's biggest problem is poor
communication, or improper public relations activities, which is a complete
mistake.
The main problem of the Lee administration is unpopular policies, not the lack of
spin-doctors who can wrap them in attractive packaging.
Franklin Roosevelt could overcome economic difficulties not because he talked
directly to the people every week, but because he adopted policies for the weaker
classes of society, introducing minimum wages and enhancing labor rights.
President Lee is going the opposite way by cutting taxes mainly for the wealthy
and widening the income gap between rich and poor.
Lee's policy is rather closer to Roosevelt's predecessor, Calvin Coolidge, who
stuck to a pro-business policy and deregulation while reinforcing only law and
order on unions, and is regarded as a leader who helped bring about the Great
Depression.
As always, what matters in the end is the content, or policy; not form, or
governmental PR. But the President must be thinking otherwise.
Upon taking office, Lee abolished the Government Information Agency, but recently
told his aides to allocate the best government officials in each ministry to the
Press Officer's Bureau, while asking for the PR outlay of 18.7 billion won for
2009, compared with the five billion won in the last year of the Roh Moo-hyun
administration.
Seen even from the purely technical aspect of PR, the direct address formula has
more to lose than gain, particularly when the people's distrust stems from their
thinking that the government itself is the main source of problems.
Even if Lee makes a modest success in the initial stages, it would make all his
aides appear unable and useless, with the President ending up with all
communication burdens.
Worse yet, if the President's predictions prove wrong or his calls turn on the
deaf ears of the public, then there will be no remedies left. Lee should sack the
officials in whom the people have no confidence and start anew, rather than
taking the risk of bringing about a situation in which nothing will work.
Thousands of words are no substitute for an open heart and people-sympathetic
policies.