Letters from the president

President Roh Moo-hyun

Roh uses letter-writing to express his thoughts; not everyone is pleased

President Roh Moo-hyun, having returned from a visit to Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand, wrote a letter to government employees on December 14 - another of his so-called Cheong Wa Dae briefings - and posted it on the home page of the presidential office.

Unlike his letter to the members of the ruling Uri Party on December 4, it contained no political message and sparked no debate. Instead, in his recent letter, President Roh merely asked the public servants to look for their news through KTV, a state-funded cable news network that broadcasts government announcements, hearings and parliamentary sessions, among other things.

This is Roh’s fourth letter to government workers this year. He often chooses express his thoughts on important issues through letters. What is the reaction to this practice?

Core officials of the presidential office say there is no problem in directly communicating with the general pubic or government officials through letters. He first wrote a letter to the people in mid-April 2003, shortly after Cheongnamdae, the former presidential retreat, was opened to the public.

For a while, many citizens were generally pleased to receive the president’s thoughts in epistolary form. But recent letters have been criticised by opposition parties as a means for the president to present his position in a one-sided manner.

Many people think that President Roh likes to write letters because he perceives of the South Korean media as hostile. An official of the governing party confirms this, saying that the president began to feel psychological damage because the media have frequently distorted his remarks made at press conferences and official meetings. A Cheong Wa Dae official stressed that it was his inevitable choice to convey his message accurately, in written form.

Another Cheong Wa Dae official said, "There are people in the presidential office who oppose Roh’s letter writing. The president, however, wants to make historical records about what he wanted to achieve."

Some in the presidential office say that President Roh feels uncomfortable approaching citizens directly. The president rarely shows up at citizens’ places of work, unlike previous presidents, who often visited farm villages or markets to meet people. Cho Ki-sook, former presidential secretary for public information, urged the president to visit the people, saying that politics is image and the president should communicate with the people through his image, said a core aid to the president. Roh paid such visits several times, the aid said, but ultimately chose to directly communicate with the people after saying, "I am not accustomed to image politics."

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