In his book, The Politics of the Vortex (1968), Gregory Henderson, a former cultural and political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, observed that political groupings in Korea over a millennium and a half have been associations of individuals whose desire for personal power has far outweighed any wish for group continuity. A phenomenon of the vortex has thus characterized Korean politics.

Recalling this piece of socio-political analysis, we are particularly dismayed that the findings of the American observer in the late sixties are still quite applicable to Korea today even though the nation has practiced representative democracy for over two decades. Even worse, party leaderships are weaker on both sides of the left-right divide than in the days of pro-democracy struggles.

Parties which have evolved into the ideological orientations of the left and right have exchanged power by 10-year cycles since 1988 and are now awaiting parliamentary and presidential elections next year. But they are exposing serious frailty in the face of the sudden “Ahn Cheol-soo phenomenon” surrounding a 49-year-old medical doctor-turned-software businessman who dedicated himself to social and political reforms.

The long Chuseok holiday gave the political community a precious opportunity for reflection after a hectic week. Ahn’s indication that he might run for the Seoul mayoral by-election shocked parties, as polltakers produced his stunning popularity figures. Although he eventually decided not to run, and instead support liberal activist Park Won-soon, Ahn has emerged as the most formidable challenger to party politics in this country.

President Lee Myung-bak was quoted as saying that “what has to come has come.” He opined that the people’s frustrations with existing political parties have raised expectations about Ahn. The president sounded like he was admonishing parties, including his own Grand National Party, in unison with the civil campaigner.

Yet, the president is partly responsible for the current disarray within the GNP because he failed to reach genuine reconciliation with Park Geun-hye, his presidential nomination rival. His administration suffered from this rift, as some of his major projects could not win parliamentary approval due to lack of cooperation from the Park faction. While the disputes between the pro-Lee and pro-Park groups persisted in the GNP, the president, serving a constitutional five-year single term, has rather distanced himself from the party in feuds.

If the extreme inefficiency of the present 18th National Assembly could be attributed to the internal discord in the GNP, there is much more to blame on the grueling antagonism between the ruling and the leftist opposition parties. They have effectively deterred legislation of administration-proposed bills sometimes in alliance with dissenters within the GNP.

The House secretariat reports that as many as 6,700 legislative bills are pending out of the record 12,312 submitted to the 18th Assembly since its opening in July 2008. Only 1,935 bills, or 15 percent, have been approved, more than 5,600 have been voted down or discarded and the rest await parliamentary action from session to session, The three-year-old bill for the ratification of the free trade agreement with the United States can be a measure of the productivity of our National Assembly.

The Ahn phenomenon illustrates not only the public’s disappointment with the perennially strife-torn party politics but their disenchantment with the individual figures on the political frontline. Hong Joon-pyo, Ahn Sang-soo, Chung Mong-joon, Lee Jae-oh and even Park Geun-hye had far less personal appeal compared to Ahn as far as the results of recent polls revealed. On the opposition side, Sohn Hak-kyu, Chung Dong-young, Rhyu Shi-min, Han Myeong-sook and Moon Jae-in were all dwarfed by Ahn in popularity figures.

The nation is in another political vortex. If presidential election were held tomorrow and Ahn’s name was in the ballot, Koreans would perhaps see a surprising result. The actual vote is a year and three months away and there are parliamentary elections next April. Parties and all members of the political community will have to understand the people correctly. They need to demonstrate that they are willing to purge themselves of the elements of inertia and corruptibility on the right, and arrogance and hypocrisy on the left if they want to hold their ground against Ahn and the likeminded masses.