Why Not Make the President's Golf Outings Public?

I once heard a story from someone who had a meal with President Lee Jae-myung around this time last year. At the dinner table, President Lee reportedly made something akin to a "declaration" that he would take up golf. President Lee reportedly said to the effect that "South Korea is a normal country, and the president should also be able to play golf openly." I recall that news of President Lee's golf outings began trickling out around that time.

The phrase "normal country" remains particularly memorable because our society still holds strict standards regarding public officials playing golf. According to a survey by Hankook Research, South Korea's golfing population last year stood at 4.3 million, and the Korea Golf Course Resort Association reported that total visits to golf courses nationwide reached 46.41 million last year. Nevertheless, the cost of playing golf remains a burden for ordinary citizens. This may be one reason why the standard applied to public officials playing golf is stricter than that applied to everyday citizens.

The higher one's status and the greater one's power, the more this applies. However, some point out the need to make proper distinctions so that arguments remain persuasive and acceptable to the public. If a president turned a blind eye and played golf despite being briefed on a severe accident involving human casualties rooted in structural social causes, or a critical national security threat, he would deservedly face criticism and be held accountable. On the other hand, if an unexpected incident occurs while a president is playing golf on a holiday, some argue the response can be handled according to the severity of the matter. With aides, a state affairs monitoring room, and crisis management systems in place, micromanaging every single detail of state affairs is not always the best approach.

Yet, the positions of both the ruling and opposition parties regarding a president's golf have shifted from situation to situation. Two years ago, when reports surfaced that former President Yoon Suk Yeol had begun practicing golf in preparation for the launch of the Trump administration, a spokesperson for the then-opposition Democratic Party launched a fierce attack, calling it "unbelievable" and a "comedy." The party leader at the time is now the current president. Back then, the Yongsan Presidential Office defended former President Yoon's golfing, arguing, "If President Trump asks for a round of golf, how could he decline simply because he cannot play at all? That would be impolite," and adding, "We don't understand why this is an issue." The then-ruling People Power Party also shielded him by mentioning the past golf meetings between former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Trump, asserting that "the president can play golf."

The People Power Party lawmaker who raised the issue this time could hardly have forgotten this. Demanding a special counsel probe right off the bat while knowing it will not lead anywhere is a move we have seen many times before. In today's terms, it is called "mirroring." The long history of being caught in one's own trap, where yesterday's self becomes today's enemy, continues to repeat itself in politics over a president's golf.

This is not an attempt to take the president's side. In a newspaper column, Professor Park Sung-hee of Ewha Womans University commented on an opposition lawmaker's criticism that President Lee recently played golf during the ceiling collapse at a Daegu commercial building and the resulting political clash, pointing out: "An incident where the safety of aging buildings should be the topic of debate is bouncing around like a rugby ball into issues like the president's golf, the Sewol ferry disaster, and the incumbent mayor's foresight, cluttering the debate floor."

Although some say it is impossible for security reasons, one might wonder if it would be better for the president to simply disclose his golf schedule, even after the fact. There is a view that going golfing once or twice a month with figures from various sectors of society could serve as a way to relieve stress while listening to diverse perspectives on state affairs. Stanford Graduate School of Business once released research showing that 90 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs play golf, and more than two-thirds of executives responded that golf directly impacts business transactions. When it was recently revealed that the president met with senior opposition lawmakers to play golf together, some figures from both the ruling and opposition camps viewed it positively. One senior ruling party lawmaker remarked, "It is far more desirable for the president to play golf with opposition lawmakers and listen to them than to stay at the official residence using social media." While it might be difficult, personally, that approach seems far more natural than establishing a task force inside Cheong Wa Dae to prepare for a golf meeting with Trump.

While all these matters are tangled up, it seems high time for our society and political arena to build an agreed-upon standard regarding a president's golf. There is no need to drag Trump into the discussion. Furthermore, having the ruling and opposition parties commit to curbing double standards and self-contradictions—long-standing chronic ailments of our politics—would mark a genuine step forward for South Korean politics.

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