[The Editors' Verdict] When 'President' Was the Top Dream for Children

There was a time when four or five children in a single class would name 'president' or 'first lady' as their future dream.

The president was the number one future aspiration among elementary school students in the 1980s. Although the top spot was taken by doctors in the 1990s, the president remained a popular future figure among children. When children said they wanted to be president, adults would give a thumbs-up in approval. At that time, the president was still seen as a 'successful person' and 'someone respected by the people.'

Nowadays, elementary school students do not choose president as their future dream.

When talking with a child about future aspirations and asking, "How about president?" the response was, "Mom, who wants to be president these days? People criticize and hate them." Indeed, in recent years, protests against the president have been nonstop in downtown Seoul. There have been more presidents receiving criticism for mistakes than praise for good deeds.

Our society did not agree with President Yoon Suk-yeol's emergency decree that allowed armed soldiers to attempt to seize the National Assembly. As with the previous two impeachments, the people reluctantly pulled out the impeachment card again. Ultimately, they succeeded in immediately suspending the president from office, but the recovery process has been far from smooth.

President Yoon Suk-yeol's refusal to accept the National Assembly's impeachment resolution sent by the Constitutional Court has made delays in the impeachment trial inevitable. The appointment of vacant Constitutional Court justices, who will hear the impeachment trial, is also uncertain due to differing views between the ruling and opposition parties. In the battle over appointing Constitutional Court justices, the ruling and opposition parties have reversed their positions compared to the 2017 impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.

Facing the grave issue of presidential impeachment, the ruling and opposition parties are showing more of a focus on calculating political gains rather than resolving the situation and solving the problem. The longer the recovery is delayed, the greater the losses in both diplomacy and the economy. The pain falls on the people.

South Korea is on the path of the third presidential impeachment in its constitutional history. It is writing a shameful history of forcibly removing a president elected by direct vote for the third time. Although both the political circles and the people have learned and realized much through the two previous impeachments, they have failed to stop this painful history.

In South Korea, where the two-party system is clear, unless the cycle of repeated presidential impeachments is cut out, retaliatory politics will inevitably continue. If impeachment was unavoidable, now the political powers must unite to manage and recover from the impeachment phase. Reflection and measures are also needed to break the recurring cycle of impeachment.

Even if the president who brought about impeachment by making a wrong emergency decree decision without reading the public's will is responsible, the political circles share a large part of the responsibility for failing to prevent the wrong choice. Despite experiencing two impeachments in the past, the failure to take a step forward on the right path is significant. If the political circles see this impeachment only as a tool for political retaliation or an opportunity to increase party power, the people will have to endure the pain of a fourth presidential impeachment, no matter who becomes president.

The painful history of impeachment in South Korea is repeating. We hope this will be the last time. We hope for a time when children can once again say president as their future dream.