In Dire Need of Political Maturity

“It’s too early to declare victory.” This is what I tell my friends in the USA, Lebanon, Bolivia, Romania, Canada and the Philippines who express admiration for the Korean government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last three or four months. The Blue House, the Ministry of Welfare and Health, and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) implemented a comprehensive epidemic control program. Private entities like Kogene Biotech, Seegene, SolGent and SD Biosensor developed accurate tests, and they were quickly put to use. If there is now cause for guarded optimism, this may be traced to Korea’s leaders having listened to the scientists and experts—our Anthony Faucis. Dr. Fauci, you may know, is the widely respected American who is trying to guide a reluctant President Donald Trump onward through the COVID-19 fog.

Korea’s success in “flattening the curve” of deaths and new cases has been lauded the world over. But in this contentious society, there are always nay-sayers. I have a friend whose anonymity must be preserved, so I will call him Mr. Park. He moans, groans and complains constantly. This man, born in 1939 and the owner of a master’s degree from Syracuse University, is an unabashed right-winger. I have no problem with conservative people, as some of my views are conservative, some liberal and most middle of the road. Mr. Park, however, opposes the government—which he regards as hopelessly left wing, indeed communist—for the sake of opposing.

I’m glad he has a good sense of humor because I sometimes kid him about his knee-jerk ways. Furthermore, I tell him that despite being more than 80 years old, he is politically immature. I would not want to stereotype, but he is of the generation that reveres Park Chung-hee; seeing the big little man’s daughter deposed in 2017 still gnaws at Mr. Park and his friends, all of whom are on the far right. So they want nothing more than to do the same to President Moon Jae-in who, they claim, is in cahoots with Kim Jong-un of North Korea. They want him impeached and jailed, and the sooner the better.

In spite of abundant evidence to the contrary, Mr. Park insists that Moon has made numerous missteps regarding COVID-19. He is suspicious to the point of paranoia about the numbers put out by the KCDC. “Fake news,” he says, suggesting that I am naive to believe what I see, hear and read.

You can imagine his unhappiness with the result of the April 15 elections. (Other countries have postponed elections due to the epidemic, but with all the precautions in place Korea went ahead.) The turnout of 66.2 percent was the highest in 28 years, and Moon’s Democratic Party and its satellite, the Together Citizens’ Party, scored a landslide victory by taking 180 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly. Voters appear to have affirmed Moon’s handling of COVID-19, but not in Mr. Park’s opinion. When he rants about how the election was rigged, I wave him off. We have to agree to disagree.

Robust self-assertion is a fine thing, but not during the middle of a global pandemic that is far from over. “There is no better time than now to set aside political opinions,” I tell Mr. Park. “Stop criticizing and be positive for the moment. Do it for the sake of the country you love so much.”

I give you two examples of how Korea has grown politically mature in recent decades. The first is the move from military to civilian control in 1987, and the second is how the police evolved from fearsome, baton-wielding men to friendly people who keep the peace and help their fellow citizens. These steps were not easy, but they were necessary, and Korea is a better place as a result.

What, then, constitutes political maturity? It is being able to look at any situation in a calm and relaxed manner. It is also the willingness to consider others’ thoughts and opinions, and to realize that we do not have all the answers all the time. Put differently, political immaturity is the determination to wear blinkers, to refuse to engage in reasoned debate and to insouciantly say, “I’m right, and you’re wrong.” Political immaturity shows a lack of emotional intelligence, as seen in my octogenarian friend.

Here is what politically mature people ought to do around election time. Choose a candidate, help him or her during the campaign, tell friends why he or she deserves a spot in the National Assembly, and vote. If he or she wins, fine. If not, however, accept the result with equanimity. Congratulate the winner and pledge to support him or her because this is what’s best for Korea. Also, realize the obvious fact that governing in the modern age is not easy and that mistakes or failed policies are bound to happen; they do not merit savage scorn and threats of removal from office.

Finally, lest any readers think I favor liberals over conservatives, not so. Some of the most closed-minded people I have ever known reside on the left side of the political spectrum. They smugly vilify their opponents no less than Mr. Park does.