[2017 Study Report on Presidential Success Factors] How Should the President Communicate?

Abstract

This paper examines desirable presidential governance and communication methods in a changing political and media environment. Based on the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, who was elected with a strong base of support, this study focuses on analyzing the constraints on presidential governance that differ from the past and the problems with former President Park's communication methods. First, the 'end of the boss politics era' is identified as the most significant change in the political environment compared to the past. The absence of a president with strong charisma led to the weakening of party politics, which in turn led to the weakening of nomination power. Second, the changed media environment, characterized by 'media overabundance' due to '1-person media' and the 'proliferation of small media outlets,' also acted as a condition for change in governance. However, former President Park's governance and communication methods do not appear to have adequately responded to these changes. This paper identifies former President Park's return-to-the-past style of appointing the Senior Secretary for Public Relations, an exclusive focus on 'growth-first ideology,' and communication skewed towards presidential supporters as problematic. Based on this analysis of problems, this paper offers several policy recommendations. These include organically integrating policy planning and public relations, appointing a Senior Secretary for Public Relations with a high understanding of changes in the political and media environments, and analyzing public opinion using big data. Therefore, this paper posits that the government's ability to flexibly respond to the rapidly changing political and media environments serves as a foundation for successful governance.

Main Text

"To ensure the smooth implementation of policies, it is essential for the president to maintain approval ratings above a certain level. If approval ratings decline, even the best policies will inevitably face difficulties in their implementation."

"In the current media ecosystem, 'managed public relations' through networks with media outlets or journalists, as in the past, can no longer be an effective method for government public relations."

"Former President Park's personnel appointment style can be broadly characterized as highly regressive."

"In the changed media environment, appointing a public relations secretary from a prominent media outlet can also be considered a regressive personnel decision."

"Former President Park's communication style can be characterized by two aspects: 'supporter-centric' and 'one-way communication.'"

"Examining the communication methods favored by former President Park reveals an extremely limited use of 'two-way' communication such as press conferences or interviews, while a preference for one-way exposure to the media, such as through events or site visits, was analyzed."

"Effective government public relations must occur during the policy planning stage; focusing on publicizing already formulated policies is not only an impossible goal but also ineffective."

"First, a system must be established to monitor and analyze news articles and their comments in real-time."

Author

Han Gyu-seop_Professor, Department of Media and Information, Seoul National University. Obtained a Ph.D. in Political Communication from Stanford University. Has published articles on elections, campaigns, and media in international academic journals such as the Journal of Politics, Political Communication, Journal of Communication, Communication Research, and Journal of Applied Statistics.