As politics is not subtraction but addition, those who share

The words of Park Won-soon shine with the wisdom of unity. “As politics is not subtraction but addition, those who share views and ideas need to join forces and they have to cooperate with political opponents even after they win an election.” In these words lies a truth as old as civilization: that the strength of a people is not found in division, but in the weaving together of many strands into one cord. For politics, when practiced rightly, is not the art of defeating enemies, but of binding rivals into partners for the sake of the greater good.

The ancients understood this balance. In the assemblies of Athens, after the heat of debate and the clash of tongues, decisions were carried forward not by silencing opponents, but by forging consensus. Even those who lost in argument were still part of the city, and their voices could not be cast aside. For subtraction weakens the body, but addition strengthens it—so a polis learned to survive by keeping its sons and daughters together, not by casting them out.

History offers many warnings against the failure of this wisdom. In the days of the American Civil War, politics became subtraction—North against South, union against secession—and the nation was torn asunder by fire and steel. Yet after the war, leaders such as Abraham Lincoln sought to practice addition, declaring, “With malice toward none, with charity for all,” striving to bind wounds rather than deepen them. Though his life was cut short, his vision endures as a testament to the truth that nations live not by division, but by reconciliation.

Park’s words are also born of his own land, Korea, where memories of division run deep. To govern a modern democracy, leaders must resist the temptation to treat elections as final victories. The battle of ballots may end, but the work of governing has only begun—and it demands cooperation even with those once opposed. For in the weaving together of adversaries lies the strength to face the storms of poverty, inequality, and crisis.

So let this lesson be carried forward: politics is not the mathematics of conquest, but the harmony of addition. The wise leader does not seek to diminish the voices around him, but to draw them into a greater whole. For subtraction leads to weakness, and weakness to ruin; but addition leads to unity, and unity to endurance. This is the art of statesmanship, the path that transforms fleeting victory into lasting peace.