"South Korea Yearns for a Successful President Now More Than Ever."

 

Demand for a new type of governance is soaring as the political environment has been significantly changing due to the spread of globalization, democratization, and informatization. In order to meet this demand, in 2002 EAI launched a book project titled "The Keys to a Successful Presidency" to be published every election year. In the past, this research focused on the role, responsibilities, and institutionalization of presidential authority. This year’s publication places its emphasis on the securing of leadership for the stable administration of government. It takes a look back at the successes and styles of past presidents following South Korea’s democratization and their management of the government, and strives to identify the keys to success for presidents adapting to a new political environment. The results have been compiled into the volume Keys to a Successful Presidency 2017 .

 

"The Success of a President Is the Success of a Nation."

 

On March 10, 2017, South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled for the first time to remove a sitting president from office, and early elections were held on May 9 of the same year. As indicated by the high voter turnout of 77.2%, citizens took a keener interest in this election than any in the past, and their hopes for the new president are equally high. While past presidents have also raised the expectations of the nation with their pledges and bold visions, time and time again their weaknesses have been exposed when they actually took on the task of leading the country, disenchanting the country. These failures in government administration cannot be completely attributed to the lack of presidential leadership. A combination of factors, including external circumstances and structural problems within the government, contributed as well. A proper diagnosis of these issues and a prescription for their remedy is needed. EAI thus presents The Keys to a Successful Presidency 2017 as a guide to successful presidential performance, what it means, and what factors play an influential role in determining governance outcomes.

 

Table of Contents

 

Preface

 

I. The Path to the Successful Management of State Affairs ■ Sook Jong Lee

 

II. Methods of Government Administration for a Successful Presidency

 

Chapter 1: Methods for organizing and operating Cheongwadae to recover the trust of the nation and achieve key state agendas ■ Hyung Joon Park
Chapter 2: A promotion strategy for an open government to boost trust in the state ■ Jaeil Kim
Chapter 3: Principles and strategies for presidential communication to win the hearts of the nation ■ Kyu-Seop Han
Chapter 4: A plan to strengthen the general national disaster management system to enhance the nation’s sense of security ■ Dong-Kyu Lee
Chapter 5: Sustainable reform of public institutions to cope with national demand and minimize trial and error ■ Seung Jun Han

 

III. Strategies for State Governance and Administration for a Successful Presidency

 

Chapter 6: Governance of the administrative and legislative Branches: A focus on the budget decision-making process ■ JeongHun Han
Chapter 7: Mediation principles for public disputes to increase national unity ■ T.J. Lah
Chapter 8: Decentralization and local autonomy principles to maximize the satisfaction of all stakeholders ■ Tae-Young Kim

 

 

*This media note was translated from the original Korean by Natalie Grant.

 

 

Related Publications