In practical terms this means, that Seoul is considering introducing legal provisions, that allow local citizens to vote out of office those local officials they find either incompetent or corrupt. It comes as no surprise that many local government officials are up in arms.
They strongly reject these plans, which some term as yet another scheme to re-centralize political and administrative authority.
Common practice
The political instrument of recalling local government officials has been practiced for many years in the US and also in Germany. It is a very democratic instrument, as it enables the local community to rid itself of incompetent local leaders, before the end of their official terms. Recalls just as referenda give a dose of direct democracy to our representative, and indirect political systems. From a liberal point of view referenda and local recalls are excellent tools to increase citizens' participation in local government.
But regarding the Korean case I have my reservations, whether the time is ripe for this fundamental innovation. Unlike the two countries mentioned above local self-government has only a very short tradition in this part of the world.
The people are just getting acquainted with the rules of representative local government, and much space remains for improvement in the "traditional" system of checks and balances. My guess is also that it would not be that easy to win the hearts and minds of the citizens for yet another reform. All the more so, as this reform -- much like most other reforms in this country -- would be installed from top to bottom, and not be the result of a political process originating at the grass roots.
"In Korea we have a real discrepancy between our real and our nominal life", says a Korean scholar, whom I discussed this matter with. "We need more time to internalize the system of representative democracy, before we move on to new political experiments", he said. Building democracy is more complex than constructing bridges or factories. Considering the long authoritarian past, it will take time -- definitely more time than one presidential term -- to educate the people about the importance of active participation in representative politics. Introducing the recall system should stand at the end of this process -- and not at the beginning, where we find ourselves today.
Ronald Meinardus is the resident representative in Seoul of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, the German foundation for liberal politics, which enjoys close links with Germany's Free Democratic Party.
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