After her stunning victory in the presidential elections in South Korea, Park Geun-Hye (Tong-Hyung), who formerly expressed her dissatisfaction with the political choices made by her predecessor, seems to have chosen her idea of what the country should strive for; according to what Park Geun claims, the Korean policies will become softer and more flexible (Yang). According to the existing evidence, the president is going to introduce a new manner of governing the state, which is currently referred to as “conservative policy”; however, with the help of Kim Jang Soo and Yoon Byung Se, the chosen path of the state’s development will most probably evolve into liberal conservatism (South Korea: The Shifting Sands of Security Policy).
When it comes to considering the factors which must have influenced Park Geun’s decision to change the government policies, the fact that Korea needs to come to terms with the American government and somehow comply with the course which has been set by Obama. As for the changes which Park Geun is going to introduce into the state policy, the defense issue will also be addressed as one of the major issues on the agenda of present-day Korea (Chang-sup). It is necessary to mention that back when Kim Jang Soo was the president of the state and a different policy was carried out, the military forces of the state were on their uptick; perhaps, inspired by Roh’s ambition to make Korea an independent military state (Harlan). To prove the importance of Soo’s impact, it will suffice to mention that he contributed to the development of the 5th aegis destroyer, and extended the military budget by 8.8%. However, the defense budget remains short on funds by 5.5%, which means that R/D and F/X will not be covered, while F-15 still lacks missiles. However, there are also several improvements to mention. In the developments which were offered by Roh, the enmity towards the USA could be traced, since Roh was obviously trying to surpass the opponent in military issues and, therefore, establish less than chilly relationships with the latter. Compared to him, Park Geun will build trustworthy relationships with the USA (Klinger), following Barak Obama’s sanction. Thus, the military development will be boosted; according to Geun’s plans, in 2015, OPCON is going to be introduced to the Korean military department. In addition, Kim Jang Soo, with his vast knowledge of military issues, can support Park, who is not informed enough on the issue. Offering more than sufficient help to Park Geun in her attempt to establish a conservative policy that can lead the state to liberal conservatism (Montgomerie), Kim Jang Soo has created efficient premises for the implementation of Park Geun’s ideas.
In addition, the merits of Yoon Byung Se must not be underrated, since he also offers a lot of opportunities for Park Geun’s project to come true (Rauhala). Though his previous record does seem a bit controversial, since he was a member of the Sunshine Policy government (Young-jong and Eun-Joo), Yoon Byung Se has proven to be a perfect diplomat (Kim & Chang), which means that he will be able to help Park Geun offer legitimate arguments in favor of the new policy and, which is even more important, establish relationships with the USA. Now a senior adviser in Park Geun’s recently formed National Future Institute, Se will most likely impact the president’s policy, as well as Kim Jung Un, will presumably help Park promote the state as the ICBM with a sufficient nuclear capability. It is also important that Soo and Se will help Park consider such issues as FX and airplane engineering, as well as form the Jeju naval base.
Even though at present, the newly undertaken measures are not quite fully supported by the entire population of Korea, with such people as Kim Jang Soo and Yoon Byung Se to back hew ideas up, Park Geun has a big chance to succeed in restructuring the previously established policies of Korea.
Works Cited
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Harlan, Chico. “Under Park Geun-hye, a Cautious South Korea appears open to
Dialogue with North”. Asia & Pacific 20 December 2012. Web.
Kim & Chang 2012, Professionals. Web.
Klinger, Bruce. “Conservative South Korean Victory Will Affirm Strong U.S. Alliance”.
The Foundry. 2012. Web.
Montgomerie, Tim. “What is Mainstream Conservatism?” ToryDiary n. d. Web. 2012.
Rauhala, Emily. “South Korea Elects First Female President: Park Geun-hye.” Time World. 2012. Web.
South Korea: The Shifting Sands of Security Policy 2011. Web. 2012.
Tong-hyung, Kim. “Park gains, Moon loses and Lee smiles”. The Korea Times. Web. 2012.
Yang, Liu. “Korean Media Said the Lineup of Park Geun-Hye, the New President, Diplomatic and Security Think-Tank”. World News. 2012. Web.
Young-jong, Lee and Lee Eun-joo. “Candidates Appoint Foreign Affairs Advisers.”
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