South Korea's first president, Rhee Syng-man, created and ran "People's Voice Day" early in his term. The name meant "a day for listening to the voice of the people," and it reflected the former president's strong commitment to communication. Once a week, on People's Voice Day, the president met in person with members of the public who came to Gyeongmudae, the presidential compound that later became the Blue House, and heard their various grievances, drawing keen interest from all quarters. But it was impossible from the start to hear out and resolve every grievance raised on People's Voice Day, and after assorted criticism the practice petered out. Had the former president sustained that early commitment to communication, could he have avoided his tragic resignation?
Former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who brought about his own downfall with the Dec. 3 martial law declaration, also showed a strong commitment to communication early in his term by holding doorstep briefings. But the sight of him taking questions from reporters before the cameras on his way to work did not last long. The briefings collapsed after the president was captured on camera showing displeasure at a reporter's question. It was a stark demonstration that a president's communication is futile if he says only what he wants to say and has no ear for listening.
In the United States, former President Franklin Roosevelt's "fireside chats" are cited as a successful case of communication. Roosevelt, who served from 1933 to 1945, used the radio addresses to explain in detail to the public the realities of the Great Depression and the banking crisis of the time and to seek their understanding. He is regarded as a leader who successfully overcame the Great Depression while soothing the public's anxieties in a familiar tone. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. president, is remembered as a leader who united the country through active communication, including the Gettysburg Address, amid the division of the Civil War, the most severe in American history. Lincoln was also a leader of great magnanimity, keeping his ears open to critical press and bringing even political rivals into his Cabinet.
President Lee Jae-myung is continuing an active push on communication. He has held seven news conferences since taking office, and on the 19th, around the 500th day of his term, he held an unscheduled meeting with reporters as well. The unconventional practice of broadcasting Cabinet meetings live also continues. His posts on X, formerly Twitter, numbered 116 in September and have continued without pause into October. But it is questionable whether the president's communication is headed in a desirable direction. His public rebuke of a reporter who asked about jeonse (a Korean lease system requiring a large lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent) at a recent news conference raises doubts about his capacity to listen. Nor is it a good sign that, with regard to the live broadcasts of Cabinet meetings, there is talk of a majority of the public and a considerable number of Cabinet members holding negative views of the president's high-handed attitude and one-way messaging. In his communication on social media, the president drew criticism when he shared a supporter's post publicizing the administration's policy achievements and wrote that people should "join in, left-gantly." The coinage, a twist on the Korean word for "elegantly" that substitutes the syllable for "left," only highlights the left-right divide and does nothing to help the president's stated aim of being a president for all.
In a post on X on the 21st, the president said he would "increase all of it — the live broadcasts of state affairs, press contacts, field visits and social media." But he must always keep in mind that a president's communication should serve national unity and the national interest. If it does not, a course correction is needed. Already, a Hankil Research survey conducted from the 17th to the 19th put the share of respondents rating his handling of state affairs positively at 32.1%. With his approval falling this sharply, the image of the president seeking to overpower someone with words on social media or in live-streamed Cabinet meetings risks amplifying the backlash instead. Now is the time to turn attention to the core causes of that decline — the retreat in the livelihood economy and insecurity in foreign affairs and national defense — and to put more effort into easing the worst rental housing crunch and rebuilding a North Korea security posture the public can accept.
The former president's People's Voice Day petered out, and the former president's doorstep briefings have hardened into a textbook case of failed communication, beyond recall. But with ample time left in his term, the president has a chance to turn his own record around. It is not yet clear whether he will end up a president who succeeded or failed at communication, but what is clear is that the outcome bears directly on people's lives and the fate of the country. It must be squarely faced that presidents who succeeded in communicating with the public, like Lincoln and Roosevelt in the United States, were also presidents who left outstanding records in advancing their country and overcoming crises. From that perspective, one hopes the president's communication succeeds.