Lee has much to do in second half

President Lee Myung-bak enters the second half of his five-year tenure Wednesday with new initiatives for the working-class while the ethical standards of his new Cabinet picks are questioned at the confirmation hearings.

The Lee administration so far has been generally lauded for its international feats and successful responses to the global economic crisis, but chided for the lack of many things -- communication even with the ruling party, flexibility in dealing with North Korea, consistency in employment policy and concrete solutions to health and welfare problems.

It has clearly experienced what it was like to succeed a decade of liberal governments, the republic’s first in its 60 years’ history.

Just a couple months after the administration took office, tens of thousands of people took to the streets for protests triggered by a television documentary on U.S. beef imports.

The demonstrations eventually faded out, but then came the U.S.-bound financialmeltdown.

Backed up by its strong manufacturing sector and lessons learned from another financial crisis a decade ago, the country’s export-driven economy managed to escape the downturn faster than any other nation, drawing enough attention from around the world to host the G20 Summit in November.

Korea is now expected to successfully mediate between advanced and developing countries for balanced growth, to fix the governance of international financial institutions such as the IMF and to reduce trade barriers. 

After intensive involvement by the president himself, a former businessman who became the CEO of a major construction company at the age of 35 in the 1970s, the country won its first overseas nuclear power plant contract in the United Arab Emirates last year.

The president is a globally acclaimed hard worker who wakes up at 4 a.m. and tells his aides to report on state affairs around the clock.

A presidential aide once said Lee’s greatest virtue was that he has no selfish motives, unlike some of his predecessors, whose reputations were marred with corruption especially toward the end of their terms.

A majority of the Korean society, weary of the ideological schisms dating back to the Korean War 60 years ago, welcomed Lee’s center, pragmatist policy directions, principled leadership on law and order as well as plans to reform the public sector and education. 

Lee’s support ratings started to pick up with the economic recovery last year, peaked with the UAE nuclear deal and now remain in the 40 percent range, according to surveys by the Herald Media.