[Editorial] Stop the cycle

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea, said in a press conference Sunday that he is the right person to end the pattern of political retaliation because he knows its ills better than anyone else.

He also said that if he is elected president, there will be no political revenge targeting certain persons, though the crime of insurrection will be strictly punished.

Considering he is the front-runner in the presidential race, this is a welcome promise.

As Lee said, each time the government has changed, South Koreans have been politically jolted by thorough investigations into the officials of previous administrations, detailed inspections of their policies and retaliatory personnel transfers.

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration intensively investigated allegations involving Lee and inspected the Moon Jae-in administration. So did the Moon administration against the governments of Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak.

Whenever those who have taken the reins of power looked into previous governments, they justified their probes as efforts to sweep away past evils, build a new country, achieve fairness and justice or simply to uncover personal corruption. But opposition parties and those who became targets saw these actions as political revenge. In each case, public opinion was split, political confrontation deepened and the livelihoods of the people were neglected.

Of course, previous administrations and opposition politicians should be punished by the law if their wrongdoings are found, but more often than not, the punishment looked retaliatory in the eyes of the people rather than part of the normal judicial process.

With the election less than 10 days away, Lee made the pledge probably because many people still believe that retaliation will nonetheless be repeated. The judges hearing Lee's cases were threatened by the Democratic Party, which moved to impeach them. Military officers involved in the Dec. 3, 2024 martial law decree, prosecutors who investigated allegations involving Lee and the Board of Audit and Inspection officials who probed the policies of the liberal Moon administration are anxious that they might face retaliation if Lee takes power.

Those in power should not seek pretexts under which to settle scores with their opponents as past regimes did. Lee should keep his word not to seek political retaliation if he becomes president. He should present concrete actions he will take to achieve that.

In the press conference, he also vowed to form a task force for emergency economic response as the first thing he will do if elected president. This is a move in the right direction.

As Lee said, the South Korean economy is in jeopardy.

Exports, which have propped up the economy, are losing ground amid the tariff war. Domestic demand is in a slump and growth stepped back in the first quarter. Yet the presidential candidates have made costly campaign pledges to win over certain generations and interest groups, without presenting ways to fund them.

The people want a president who will lead them through the global trade war and save small businesses in particular from their financial troubles. The next leader should outline reform plans to overcome the nation’s low growth and revive its economy. Of course, these plans should be based on the stability of state affairs and national integration.

If national integration fails due to political retaliation and “us versus them” politics, the goal of an economic recovery will recede even farther away. Regardless of who wins the election, all presidential candidates should keep in mind that reviving the economy is the top priority.

Kim Moon-soo, presidential candidate of the conservative People Power Party, said that he would not seek to control the party if elected president. He vowed to cooperate with it and not to intervene in internal affairs such as candidate nomination. Under former President Yoon, a vertical relationship between the presidential office and the party often caused conflict.

In the sense that it is a promise to reduce "imperial" presidential power, which covers both the governing party and the executive branch, Kim’s words are worthy of being accepted by other candidates and parties.