[Editorial] Chung Un-chan episode

Chung Un-chan, 62, is an honorable and noble man in the Shakespearean sense, having served as president of Seoul National University for four years and as prime minister under President Lee Myung-bak for a year. An economist with doctorate from Princeton University, Chung now heads a commission dedicated to promoting shared growth between large and small businesses.

After a rather short experience of public service, he must by now regret that he left academia to accept President Lee’s offer of the second highest job in government. The nation’s top entrepreneur branded him a preacher of nonsense, a leading member of the ruling Grand National Party called him a spoiled child, and a Cabinet member said he was a fantasist.

All these definitions emanate from Chung’s key policy recommendation dubbed “sharing excess profits” between conglomerates and their subcontractors, which was the outcome of his months-long study commissioned by the president. Feeling he had had enough, Chung last week indicated his intent to resign from the shared growth panel, alarming the president who still regards him as a major asset of his administration and a possible presidential candidate for his generally centrist profile.

Some strategists in the ruling camp are seeking to nominate Chung as a GNP candidate for the parliamentary by-election for a district in Seongnam near Seoul. They consider him a viable contender against Democratic Party leader Sohn Hak-kyu, who is known to be weighing to run in this district in the vote late next month.

It is hard to imagine what Chung has in his bright mind but the best choice for him at this juncture will be cutting all political connections and going back to SNU, where he still holds the professor emeritus status. His government service, short though it may be, can be valuable replenishment to his academic resources. And many hope that he is the last major university president recruited to the government only to squander his or her academic integrity.