Screenshots

Former Hyundai CEO Lee Myung-bak will be the president of South Korea.

Lee has campaigned on the promise that the per capita income of South Koreans will reach $30,000 within five years and $40,000 within 10 under his administration.

Lee has proposed the so-called "MB Doctrine'' (using the initials of his name) for foreign policy that comprises seven projects to be undertaken by his administration, encompassing North Korea, unification, security and diplomacy.

Screenshots first wrote about the rising star, president-elect Lee Myung-bak, when I visited South Korea earlier this year. I recorded that Lee was extremely popular for having defied public perceptions during his tenure as the Seoul's mayor and boldly restored Cheonggye Cheon into a intra-city environmentally-friendly flood mitigation system.

I also mentioned that the success of Cheonggye Cheon Restoration, too me, was a case of solving an old problem with new ideas. The achievement, I believed then, also helped Lee consolidate his image as a serious contender for the 2008 presidency race -- which has now come to pass.

Roh blamed for over-growing bureaucracy

Incumbent Roh Moo-hyun who took office in February 2003 and dubbed Korea's first Internet-elected president, has been under criticism for increasing the size of the bureaucracy excessively.

The number of public servants increased by 65,000 since Roh commenced office, according to the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs.

It marked the second largest increase after the Roh Tae-woo government, who took office in 1988, and added more than 176,000 government jobs.

Under the incumbent Roh Moo-hyun government, a total of 28 new public institutions were established and the wages of public officials also increasing by up to 50%.

According to his pledges, Lee will scale down ministries and smaller central government branches, currently totaling 56, and will reorganize 416 government-affiliated committees. In addition, a number of organizations will be merged or disbanded.

Food for thought for Abdullah who can't even recognise his own XXL-sized Cabinet.