Comments posted below are preposterous. They are obssessed with the ghost of ideology-separating leftists from rightists. There is nothing wrong with those who want to eat healthy food, rejecting something that might be contaminated or posing a potential threat. It's a common sense, thus there is no underlying "political speculation" in demanding government to take measures to ensure the safety of food. People like below are the ones who try to exploit the situation for political purposes, and make the situation worse. Below two seem to have high level of education, but lack the ability to see the situation without bias, or try to deliver false messages on purpose. Shame on you guys!
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South Korea’s One-Term Trap
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Predictably, Lee's opponents took advantage of every misstep. Netizens, civic groups and labor unions hit the streets to denounce him, and as their ranks swelled, his support within the conservative camp evaporated. In typical Korean fashion, rather than rally around their embattled leader, GNP lawmakers began taking shots at him on the logic that by doing so, they could avoid falling themselves. It was an expression of the immaturity of South Korea's party system, which is driven more by inspirational personalities than ideology or shared political vision, leaving leaders little to fall back on when the tide begins to turn.
Various schemes are now being floated to address the fact that "Korean presidents become lame ducks from day one," according to a political scientist in Seoul who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject. The most popular (and least intrusive) fix would be to institute a U.S.-style two-term presidency, though more radical proposals include scrapping the presidency altogether in favor of a Westminster parliamentary system. Either would make sense, since the original reason for the limit has faded. "Our democracy is too mature to [fear] dictatorship," says Park Jin, a lawmaker with the Grand National Party.
Last week the country's new National Assembly Speaker, Kim Hyong-oh, said he would form a special legislative committee to study possible constitutional revisions, which would require majority approval in a national referendum and two thirds support in the legislature. Professor Park Myong Ho at Seoul's Dongguk University forecasts that such a change could be completed within two years.
That probably won't be soon enough to help the Bulldozer regain full traction, however. Lee's trade deal is in tatters. His plans to privatize public companies and launch massive infrastructure projects are on hold. And his pledge to double per capita income to $40,000 within a decade is now widely seen as beyond his political reach. "He will try to do things step by step, while adjusting some of his ambitious goals to reflect the stark reality," says Park, the GNP lawmaker. Yet his real contribution could be what South Korean politics needs most: a more stable presidency freed from the limit of a single, make-or-break term.
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