South Korea’s problems stem from beyond the presidency

The following post was written by Nam Woong Kim, Vice President of Students For Liberty Korea.

Sorry friends, the problem is not just President Park Geun-hye.

There are a lot of things going on in South Korea. Many people are angry about what President Park Geun-hye did with her friend Choi Soon-sil. Let me just briefly summarize what happened to President Park. Basically, President Park Geun-hye gave her best friend Choi Soon-sil a so-called ‘political privilege’ allowing Choi Soon-sil to get money from big corporations like Samsung. President Park Geun-hye, in theory, should serve the public interest of the Korean people. However, most presidents around the world do not serve the public interest, but rather their own interest by using unlimited executive power, and this Choi Soon-sil Scandal is a typical example of how heads of state use their power to serve their own interest. I can understand why people are so angry. However, I do not agree with what people are demanding.

The Real Problem

Almost all people who are angry at President Park Geun-hye want to impeach her and replace her with a ‘better’ person. But the question is, “is Park Geun-hye the only one who uses her power to serve her own interest?” Absolutely not, and history tells us that Park Geun-hye is not the only president who did something like this. Almost every president of South Korea has used his or her executive power to benefit themselves. Korean presidents have repeatedly used executive power to pressure private companies for their own benefit. If this is not just President Park Geun-hye’s problem, what is the ‘real’ problem? Well, it seems like Lord Acton has the answer: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” As Lord Acton says, the main problem of this scandal is not President Park Geun-hye herself, but the power that she has.

Limitless Power of the President

The president of South Korea has enormous power: the president is the commander-in-chief, can declare war, can issue limitless executive orders, and can declare a so-called ‘state of emergency’ (suspending all laws). These powers are just explicit powers. In addition, the president can influence private companies in a lot of ways. Yes, South Korea has not fully embraced the free market. Although Korean people believe that South Korea is a ‘capitalistic country’, it certainly is not. It is more accurate to say that South Korea is a ‘crony capitalistic’ country, a country where the government intervenes and influences private companies. President Park Geun-hye was able to force Samsung to fund her best friend because she had the power to do so. If her power was limited, she wouldn’t be able to force private companies to help her best friend.

Is Capitalism to Blame? No!

People often blame capitalism for corruption. However, capitalism has nothing to do with corruption or power. Rather, the government has always been the total cause of corruption and power. When Adam Smith, the father of economics, talks about the free market, he doesn’t say anything about the government. If South Korea truly had a capitalist system, President Park Geun-hye couldn’t have supported her best friend in this scandalous way.

Solution

There is one clear solution that the Korean people should demand. It is not replacing her with a better person. There is no such thing as a better person. If Park Geun-hye had used her power to serve her own interest, other people would do the same thing. This is the nature of human beings. Humans are self-interested, and this is not a bad thing, especially in a free market. However, this self-interested human nature becomes evil when they go into government. Friedrich Hayek once said that, “the chief evil is unlimited government, and nobody is qualified to wield unlimited power.” As he says, nobody is qualified for the unchecked power possessed by the president of South Korea.

The question is not, “Who is going to be our president?” Rather, the question we have to ask is, “How can we limit the scope of the government so future presidents will not abuse their power?” It is now time to have limited government. It is time to enjoy freedom instead of corruption.

This piece solely expresses the opinion of the author and not necessarily the organization as a whole. Students For Liberty is committed to facilitating a broad dialogue for liberty, representing a variety of opinions. If you’re a student interested in presenting your perspective on this blog, visit our guest submissions page.