[Editorial] Politics over policy

Ha Jung-woo, senior presidential secretary for artificial intelligence policy and future planning, resigned on Tuesday to run in a National Assembly by-election to be held alongside the June 3 local elections.

It was reported that Jung Chung-rae, leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, met with Ha two days earlier to persuade him to run and that Ha replied that he would think it over. The party is expected to nominate him as its candidate for a constituency in Busan.

It is unsettling in many ways that a presidential aide responsible for a key national strategy is suddenly entering the electoral arena.

President Lee Jae Myung has emphasized his vision for AI since his presidential campaign. He laid out a blueprint to invest a combined 100 trillion won ($68 billion) from the public and private sectors by 2030 to elevate South Korea into one of the world's top three AI powers. In June last year, he established the Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy and Future Planning at Cheong Wa Dae and made the unusual choice of appointing Ha — who had led AI innovation at Naver — to head the office.

At the launch ceremony of the Presidential Council on National Artificial Intelligence Strategy in September last year, Lee described the vision as "a core survival strategy that will determine the future of South Korea."

Ha said that the next three to five years would be the golden age of South Korea's AI industry and stressed the importance of formulating and carrying out mid- to long-term AI strategies.

Yet after not even three years, but just 10 months on the job, he stopped his work to run for an Assembly seat — with a mountain of work still left to do.

When reports surfaced earlier this month that the party wanted Ha to run in the election, Lee appeared to pump the brakes on the idea, saying at a public Cheong Wa Dae meeting on April 9, "Ha should not give in just because requests related to running in the election come in." In response, Ha made remarks that seemed to rule out a potential candidacy, but those words ultimately proved to be empty rhetoric.

It is unclear whether Jung's pressure was too strong or whether Ha himself was eager to run, but he should have given more thought to the nation's long-term interests than to the election at hand.

The AI secretary is key to the command center of the administration's ambitious push for a national strategy. This is all the more true at a time when major advanced countries are racing to accelerate technological development so as not to fall behind in AI, a field that will shape the future.

Ha has no political experience at all, and whether he wins or loses will not affect the Democratic Party's majority status in the National Assembly. Nevertheless, the party pushed for his candidacy for the sake of politics rather than the success of a national strategy, and the president accepted his resignation. It is regrettable and frustrating that party interests and political calculations are being placed above a strategy tied to the nation's future.

There is nothing new about presidential aides running for office. Experience as a presidential aide can be quite helpful in carrying out legislative duties.

However, Cheong Wa Dae still faces numerous pressing national issues, including fallout from the conflict in the Middle East. This is a time when the expertise and sense of duty of presidential aides matter more than ever.

The Cheong Wa Dae secretariat is a place where aides support the president in safeguarding national interests and people's livelihoods, not a "campaign launchpad" for would-be candidates looking to add another line to their resumes.