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In his inaugural speech on Monday, President Lee Myung-bak pronounced 2008 the start of Korea¡¯s next 60 years (this year marking the 60th anniversary of the Republic). In little over half a century, the republic achieved the rare miracle of both industrialization and democratization. Now the final hurdle our country must overcome is joining the ranks of the world¡¯s advanced nations. But standing in front of this last hurdle, we have wasted time fighting amongst ourselves.
The train that will take us to the ranks of advanced nations will not wait indefinitely. Countries such as the Czech Republic, Brazil and Argentina, which seemed poised to join the advanced nations, missed the train and were not even able to maintain their status as semi-developed nations. If we spend the next five years drifting, then the Republic of Korea will be added to the list of countries that crashed and burned along the way.
There is a high chance that the world will experience fundamental changes over the next 10 to 20 years. If they fail to ride the tides of globalization and move toward knowledge-based industries, even advanced countries may crash and burn. Before our national energy is sapped by a low birthrate and aging population, we must lay the foundation to becoming an advanced nation. China will overtake Japan in terms of economic size in 20 years. There is not much time for us to find a way out, sandwiched as we are between the two. And North Korea has no choice but to undergo major changes within the next 20 years. There is not enough time to prepare for that.
Historically, the only Asian country that has been able to make the shift from a semi-developed to advanced nation is Japan. The reason why it is so difficult is that achieving an advanced society cannot be done simply by executing the government¡¯s five-year plan. Our country has reached the limits of development based on government-run plans. Advanced countries are those where the citizens and the state coexist in peace, but before that, there must be law and order. The true hurdle we must overcome is whether each member of this country can truly value responsibility over freedom, duty over rights, consideration for others rather than self assertion, and manners and culture over indulgence. All the countries that crashed and burned on their way to becoming advanced nations were unable to achieve these objectives. The causes and solutions for all the problems our country faces ? from labor strife and educational problems to class differences and others ? center around these objectives.
Two futures lie ahead for President Lee: the leader who paved the way toward advancement or the leader who missed the last train that could have taken us there. Which track we end up traveling depends on whether the president is able to demonstrate qualities such as responsibility, duty, consideration for others, culture, dignity and other tough virtues, so he can move the hearts of his people through his sacrifices.
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