[Full Text] Yuseong Yeop: "Moon Administration Further Ruined the Economy Wrecked by Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] On the 20th, Yoo Sung-yeop, floor leader of the Democratic Integration Assembly, criticized the Moon Jae-in administration, saying, “The reality is that instead of reviving the economy ruined by the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye regimes, it is rather further damaging it,” and added, “As a government chosen by the candlelight public sentiment, it should have conducted a government without any shame, but I want to ask whether it has truly done so.”

◆ The following is the full text of Floor Leader Yoo’s speech

Honorable citizens,

Speaker Moon Hee-sang and senior fellow lawmakers,

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and members of the Cabinet,

From Jeongeup and Gochang, Jeollabuk-do,

I am Yoo Sung-yeop, floor leader of the Democratic Integration Assembly.

■ The fear of the coronavirus is still ongoing; thorough preparation is essential

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Korea

has exceeded 50.

Even patients without overseas travel history have appeared,

making the concern over community infection

a reality.

Some voices even say

this is just the beginning,

expressing worried concerns.

However, since the outbreak began,

the quarantine and prevention system

implemented by our government

has not been bad.

Despite tens of thousands infected and thousands dead in China,

our relatively low damage is

thanks to the proactive response of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and related ministries.

Of course, there are regrettable parts.

If entry restrictions had been imposed earlier,

and traveler quarantine strengthened,

it would have been better.

But now is not the time to assign blame.

First, we must trust and follow our government.

We must be cautious ourselves and cooperate with each other

to overcome this crisis.

Until the coronavirus situation is completely resolved,

please never let your guard down and do your best,

which I earnestly request.

■ The economic damage from coronavirus is severe; supplementary budget should be considered

However, unlike the active response to the disease,

the response to economic damage is very insufficient.

The truly frightening aspect of this coronavirus crisis

is that it is fatal to our economy.

Without correcting the economic policy failures of the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye regimes,

our country’s economy, which was already on the brink due to unfounded income-led growth policies,

rapid minimum wage hikes,

and skyrocketing real estate prices,

may receive a ‘death sentence’ from this coronavirus crisis.

According to various analyses,

China’s annual growth rate is expected to fall by about 10% from the original forecast due to the coronavirus.

The economic shock in China

will directly affect our country, which has a high dependence on trade with China.

Morgan Stanley has already predicted

that Korea’s first-quarter growth rate

will drop by up to 1.1 percentage points compared to last year,

and Moody’s has lowered Korea’s growth forecast for this year to the 1% range again.

In the worst case,

78,000 jobs in the domestic tourism industry

are expected to disappear.

The situation is extremely serious.

Yet our government has not yet presented

any concrete countermeasures for the economic crisis.

Unlike in previous years, it is not proactive about the supplementary budget,

which would have been immediately pushed forward.

The reason is simple.

Too many supplementary budgets have been issued so far.

The government has made as many as 17 supplementary budgets in the past 19 years.

Even under this administration,

there have been annual supplementary budgets, including the 2017 job supplementary budget,

the following year’s youth job supplementary budget,

and last year’s supplementary budgets for fine dust and Japan export restrictions.

Originally, supplementary budgets are emergency funds used

when unexpected national disasters or difficulties occur, as now.

However, instead of saving when more taxes were collected,

they were all spent as they came,

so now, when a serious difficulty arises,

the government hesitates.

If there are limits to coping within this year’s budget through utilization and reallocation,

the government must immediately prepare a ‘coronavirus supplementary budget.’

We strongly request direct and effective support

for self-employed and small business owners who have been hit by the minimum wage and collapsed by coronavirus.

■ Difficulties across diplomacy, politics, society, and economy

Honorable citizens,

we are currently facing very difficult situations across all aspects of government.

Even the inter-Korean relations, which seemed to be going well, have fallen into deadlock again.

The government’s basic stance of warmly embracing North Korea was correct.

However, in diplomatic capabilities to mediate and adjust conflicts between North Korea and the U.S.,

the limits have been clearly exposed.

For political reform and development,

a decentralized constitutional amendment and election reform reflecting public opinion were essential,

but due to the passive attitude of the president and ruling party,

and fierce opposition from the Liberty Korea Party, the predecessor of the United Future Party,

the constitutional amendment was ultimately abandoned,

and the election reform barely drew a kitten when trying to draw a tiger.

The ambitious 20th National Assembly started well in the first half,

beginning with the parliamentary audit of the Education and Culture Committee, which I chaired,

exposing the Choi Soon-sil state corruption scandal in detail,

and leading to the president’s impeachment with the power of the candlelight public sentiment,

achieving visible results.

However, in the second half, it degenerated into the worst National Assembly,

repeatedly stalled amid fierce political battles between the two major vested parties.

The public’s demand for the National Assembly to stop fighting and work is growing stronger.

Regarding prosecution reform,

it is equally regrettable.

It was good to decentralize and check the previously unchecked power of the prosecution.

However, using this as an excuse to demote many prosecutors investigating the Blue House

damages the independence and neutrality of the prosecution.

The president personally urged Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl

to be strict even with the living power.

But that request has vanished,

and the ongoing disputes between the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution are causing public displeasure.

The economy is worst of all.

Our economy, which has continuously stagnated with growth rates of 3.3% under Lee Myung-bak and 3.0% under Park Geun-hye,

seemed to start well at 3.2% in 2017, the first year of the Moon Jae-in government,

but fell to 2.7% the following year,

and finally received the worst score of 2.0% in 2019.

Some even say, “The economy has already been given up on.”

This is a clear failure of economic policy.

The government has merely renamed and repeated the wrong economic policies of the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations,

and recklessly pushed an economically unsound income-led growth policy.

We must no longer stand by.

To enhance South Korea’s declining growth potential, international competitiveness,

and growth sustainability,

we must relearn DJ Economics.

Returning to the spirit of overcoming national crises wisely,

we must complete public reform, labor reform, and education reform

to create the new world we dream of.

■ Currently, we lack jobs, baby cries, and hope

Honorable citizens,

there are three things missing in Korea now.

First, there are no jobs.

Second, there are no baby cries.

And third,

there is no hope for the future.

■ Creating ‘income-generating jobs’ by reducing the public sector

First, the missing thing is jobs.

The government boasts that the employment rate in January was 60%, the highest ever,

and that 568,000 jobs increased compared to the same period last year.

But this is false.

Of the 560,000 new jobs, nearly 90%, or 500,000, are jobs for those aged 60 and over.

As we all know, most of these senior jobs

are created with tax money.

They are not ‘income-generating jobs’ but ‘money-spending jobs.’

Various excuses are attached, but in reality,

they disguise senior pensions as jobs.

Of course, we do not oppose increasing senior welfare and pensions in Korea,

which has the highest elderly poverty rate among OECD countries.

We recognize the contributions of the older generation during industrialization,

and since they were forced to endure low wages and hard labor,

the government must actively guarantee their happiness now.

But we must not lie to the people.

Welfare projects should not be disguised as jobs.

If lies are told and report cards falsified,

one may get by temporarily, but will fail that subject for life.

It is the right attitude for the government to admit the failure of job policies now

and devise more fundamental measures.

The public sector jobs, including civil servants, which the current government focuses on,

are also just ‘money-spending jobs.’

As of 2018, Korea’s public sector jobs totaled 2.45 million, accounting for 9% of total employment.

In the last presidential election, the Democratic Party pledged to increase public sector jobs by as many as 810,000,

arguing that the OECD average public sector employment ratio is 21%,

while Korea’s is only 7.6%.

However, this is an exaggerated figure.

The average excludes Germany, which has half the number of civil servants compared to the U.S. and France, the most populous OECD countries.

Korea’s 7.6% is also excluded.

The scope of what is included in the public sector also differs.

Unlike the UN Statistical Commission’s standards,

Korea’s public sector statistics exclude professional soldiers, National Intelligence Service staff,

government-paid private school teachers,

and various public office-related organizations.

Also excluded are Woori Bank and Daewoo Shipbuilding, which have received public funds,

and POSCO, which effectively exercises personnel authority through the National Pension Service.

In other words, the government is intentionally relying only on reduced statistics excluding the ‘de facto public sector’

to increase the public sector.

However, Korea’s civil servants are already saturated.

The number of citizens per national civil servant is 77,

much lower than Germany’s 328 and Japan’s 452.

In other words, Korea has four to five times more national civil servants than Germany and Japan.

Moreover, the average salary of our civil servants was 63.6 million KRW last year,

about 1.65 times the per capita GDP.

Considering Germany and France are about 0.8 times,

they are paid twice as much.

Their tenure is also guaranteed.

While the average tenure of private workers is only 6.5 years,

civil servants have lifetime job security.

What about after retirement?

As of 2017, the average monthly National Pension payment was 380,000 KRW,

while the civil servant pension was 2.4 million KRW.

That is a sixfold difference.

About 2 trillion KRW in taxes are spent annually to cover this gap.

With the best treatment, tenure guarantee, and retirement benefits,

the ‘divine job’ created by taxes exists,

so it is natural that Korean youths dream of becoming civil servants.

Why should we issue government bonds and increase civil servants with our hard-earned tax money?

Why increase civil servants when the population is declining?

Why increase civil servants when automation services have significantly reduced workloads?

Why increase the public sector when companies like Korea Electric Power Corporation and Korea National Oil Corporation, which have suffered billions in losses, shamelessly take billion-won bonuses?

France, once called the paradise of civil servants, collapsed due to public sector expansion,

but revived by reducing the public sector.

Young leader Macron, despite a sharp drop in approval ratings,

carried out massive public sector cuts,

and proudly declared, “France has returned.”

German Chancellor Merkel and Japan’s Abe Cabinet also revived their economies

through public sector reduction and pension reform.

Of course, such proposals may face strong opposition.

But true politics is not about doing popular things,

but about doing what must be done.

I boldly propose to the government and citizens here:

The number of civil servants must be reduced by 30%.

The public sector’s share in the entire industry must also be reduced by 30%.

This is the so-called ‘Public Sector 3·3 Reform.’

In addition, the civil servant pension system should be restructured into a bottom-heavy system

to ultimately align with the National Pension.

Honorable citizens,

large-scale reduction of the public sector will save our taxes.

The enormous resources generated here

should be used for labor reform.

After sufficiently expanding the social safety net,

labor flexibility and stability must be simultaneously enhanced.

Generally, labor flexibility and stability are known to conflict,

but some European countries have achieved both by guaranteeing freedom of employment and dismissal

while actively expanding social safety nets.

This is the direction our labor policy should take.

Under the current rigid labor situation,

it is difficult to expect new job creation.

After firmly establishing sufficient unemployment benefits

and a vocational training system for reemployment,

bold labor reform must be achieved.

Only then can we create ‘income-generating jobs,’

real jobs.

Reducing the public sector will enhance the country’s growth potential and international competitiveness

by eliminating inefficiencies and revitalizing the private economy.

Last year, our economic growth rate was 2%, the lowest on average.

Under Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye governments, it was only 3.3% and 3.0%, respectively.

However, during the DJ administration, which faced the national disaster of the foreign exchange crisis,

the growth rate was an astonishing 5.3%,

and excluding the -5.5% contraction in the first year of the crisis,

it recorded an amazing 8.01% growth over four years.

On the day Kim Dae-jung’s administration began in February 1998, a newspaper said,

“If the foreign exchange crisis is overcome within five years, history will record it as a great achievement,”

but the Kim Dae-jung government overcame the crisis in just one year,

and achieved economic recovery in another year.

Of course, we acknowledge the base effect and that it was a growth period.

But nonetheless, the remarkable results are undeniable.

The foundation of that success was the core of DJ Economics,

which included a 20% reduction in the public sector

and bold restructuring to create a supplier’s market.

In other words, reducing the public sector is essential to revive a struggling economy,

as confirmed by historical facts.

Now, 20% reduction is insufficient.

To escape the ‘civil servant state,’

both the number of civil servants and the public sector share must be reduced by 30%,

the ‘Public Sector 3·3 Reform’ is essential.

If this reform succeeds,

the economy will revive,

and we will move away from a civil servant-centered bureaucratic society

to an innovative society with greatly relaxed regulations,

a future society.

Then, Korean companies that went abroad will return,

foreign investment in Korea will increase,

the domestic economy will revive,

and jobs will increase.

■ To overcome low birthrate, all-out efforts are needed in real estate, education, and childcare policies

The second thing missing in Korea is baby cries.

Korea’s total fertility rate in 2018 was 0.97,

and in the last quarter, it hit a record low of 0.88,

not even reaching one.

In November last year, for the first time, deaths outnumbered births.

Honorable citizens,

Korea is aging.

No, it is dying.

The government has spent about 150 trillion KRW over 14 years from 2006 to last year

on low birthrate measures, but the results are the worst.

This is because it only treats the results without addressing the causes.

The fundamental causes of low birthrate are

the inability to find good jobs,

the lack of places to raise children,

and the uncertainty about how to raise them.

These are linked to economic stagnation,

real estate price surges,

and childcare and education issues.

The Moon Jae-in government’s real estate policy

is, in a word, worse than doing nothing.

During 26 of the 30 months in office, real estate prices steadily rose.

Last month, the median price of apartments in Seoul exceeded 900 million KRW.

This amount requires saving for 30 years without spending a single won,

based on the 2018 average monthly pre-tax wage of 2.97 million KRW.

A world where one cannot buy a home even after a lifetime of work.

Who made this?

Whose responsibility is it?

The president said he would control real estate prices.

But the prices of the homes of Blue House aides have not been controlled.

Those directly responsible, such as Kim Soo-hyun and Jang Ha-sung, saw prices rise by nearly 1 billion KRW.

At this point, it is confusing whether they cannot control or do not want to control.

Of course, it is not only the Moon administration’s fault.

The fundamental cause of the real estate frenzy is paradoxically the poor economy.

Massive liquidity from fiscal expansion and quantitative easing

cannot find productive investment destinations and flows only into real estate.

Another reason is indiscriminate tax benefits for rental business owners,

a typical ‘pro-landlord’ and ‘pro-rich’ policy laid by the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye governments.

Tax cuts for renting, capital gains tax reductions for selling,

policies only for homeowners are still in effect.

The government must immediately stop tax reductions for rental business owners.

Also, rather than simple property tax increases and regional restrictions causing balloon effects,

we strongly request fundamental measures such as expanding investment destinations through economic revitalization

and increasing real estate supply.

Childcare and education policies must also change.

A paradigm shift is needed.

Parents should bear the responsibility for having children,

and the government should take charge of raising them.

First, public kindergartens must be greatly expanded.

As of last year, fewer than 3 out of 10 children attend public kindergartens.

The remaining 7 rely on private kindergartens.

However, with the private kindergarten issues emerging,

242 private kindergartens have closed in just one year.

The problem is that only 58 public kindergartens were added in the same period.

Expanding public kindergartens must be the top policy priority.

All policy resources should be invested to stabilize early childhood education and care.

Honorable citizens,

our education policy must regain lost trust and move toward fairness.

Education fairly evaluated without a phone call from a high-ranking father

or a certificate from a professor mother.

Even if born a frog, anyone can become a dragon through effort.

We must establish such an education system.

The early admission system, which has become a competition of specs for children from wealthy families,

must be corrected, and the proportion of regular admissions raised sharply to 80%.

Also, to depoliticize education, the existing Ministry of Education should be abolished,

and an independent National Education Commission established.

Thus, education policies will not change at the whim of regimes,

but will be long-term policies looking 10 or 100 years ahead.

Furthermore, national financial support for higher education,

that is, universities, must be greatly expanded

to improve education quality and

allow vulnerable groups to have access to higher education without burden.

Only when good jobs are continuously created through public sector reform and labor reform,

and low birthrate is overcome through real estate stabilization and government-responsible childcare and education policies,

can the solution to low birthrate be found.

■ Political reform must create hope for the future

Lastly, what we lack now is hope.

Hope is creating a better tomorrow.

Creating hope and destroying hope

are both the role of politics.

That is why there is no hope.

It is all because of politics.

Through decentralized constitutional amendment

and proper election reform reflecting public opinion,

we must fundamentally change the political structure

and transform our political culture.

The biggest problem in politics now is fandom.

Politics based on fandom focuses only on people.

It cares not what is said, but who said it.

If the person supports my side, it is right,

otherwise, they are the enemy.

If I dare to criticize a politician I like even a little,

they dig up personal information and insult without hesitation.

Even the Blue House has asked for restraint.

In short, it has gone too far.

Fandom has shaken the moral standards tacitly agreed upon by our society for a long time.

The authority of the media and judiciary, which were standards of objectivity and fairness,

has fallen to the ground.

If opinions differ,

the media is called fake news,

and legal professionals are labeled as corrupt.

Also, fandom does not allow internal criticism,

so voices of self-reflection and whistleblowers have long lost their place.

The case of Professor Im Mi-ri’s accusation clearly shows how narrow-minded and dangerous fandom politics is.

However, this is not a problem of only one side.

If this continues, no matter who governs,

society will remain divided and repeat fierce confrontations,

and our politics will sink deeper into a quagmire.

Bold changes in political systems and culture are urgently needed.

Honorable citizens,

The United Future Party, successor to Saenuri Party and Liberty Korea Party,

is fiercely criticizing President Moon Jae-in and the ruling party.

Of course, some of their criticism has merit.

But the forces whose two former presidents are under investigation,

who have monopolized state affairs, accumulated corruption,

ruined inter-Korean relations, and damaged the economy,

who have only obstructed without reflection,

now criticizing the Moon administration is like the pot calling the kettle black.

However, it is also regrettable that we cannot simply defend the Moon administration as doing well.

The reality is that instead of reviving the economy ruined by the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye regimes,

it is further damaging it.

As a government chosen by the candlelight public sentiment,

it should have conducted a government without any shame,

but I want to ask whether it has truly done so.

■ The Democratic Integration forces will be an alternative, moving toward harmony and development

Dear citizens,

we all know.

No one can be an absolute good.

Everyone makes mistakes and errors.

It takes courage to boldly admit this.

We must praise what deserves praise

and walk together.

To play this role,

we aim to create an alternative political force.

Not as judges deciding who is right or wrong,

but as mediators and intermediaries,

we want to move together toward harmony and development.

Not just politics by youth,

but politics for youth.

Politics that saves the budget for future generations,

raises the country’s growth potential,

and creates jobs and future industries through innovation.

Politics that seriously considers and acts on climate change, environment,

and safety issues.

This is the direction of future politics our alternative political force pursues.

■ Fake progressives and fake conservatives, discard the shell

Citizens,

all parties and political forces dominating our political scene now are fake.

Both progressives and conservatives are fake.

True progressives

should represent and protect children born to unfortunate parents, elderly with poor children,

severely disabled and incurable patients,

and vulnerable workers who cannot even form labor unions.

But in reality,

socially vulnerable people in need of help are neglected,

and only labor aristocrats with average annual salaries close to 100 million KRW

and well-organized workers helpful in elections have been favored.

This ultimately caused a sharp rise in the minimum wage,

and the lowest-tier workers lost even the few jobs they had.

So they are all fake.

True progressives must focus on the economy above all.

With money, they can care for the vulnerable and expand welfare

while avoiding public resistance.

Unfortunately, self-proclaimed progressive parties now

are far from the economy.

They do not think about earning and spending,

only about consuming what exists.

They do not study the causes of economic stagnation,

only focus on symptoms.

Progressives who do not understand or study the economy

are all fake.

The same applies to conservatives.

True conservatives protect.

They protect the nation and the country.

Above all, true conservatives protect the people from dictatorships that suppress freedom and rights.

But what about our self-proclaimed conservatives?

They abandon the responsibility of national unification,

and are busy obstructing inter-Korean relations.

They wave foreign flags while claiming to protect the country,

and many of their leaders are exempt from military service.

Economically, while loudly calling for freedom and deregulation,

they support dictatorial regimes that deprived physical freedom and rights,

and belittle the democratization movements that fought against them.

Those who claim the Gwangju Democratization Movement was fabricated,

and call the people who bled there communist spies,

are still mixed among fake conservatives.

True conservatives should lead the fight against dictatorship

to protect freedom and rights.

Ultimately, those before us are only fake conservatives.

Those who justify collaboration with Japanese imperialism,

deny the Shanghai Provisional Government,

and obstruct unification are definitely not true conservatives.

Our Democratic Integration Assembly

aims to drive out fake progressives and fake conservatives

from the Korean political scene.

Therefore, we must achieve a complete replacement of political forces, not just generational change.

We will discard the shell.

Only true conservatives and true progressives will remain, focusing on reviving the economy,

and practicing true politics that responsibly care for the socially vulnerable.

■ The world we dream of

Honorable citizens of Korea, we must dream together.

A world where even those born with a dirt spoon can live as if with a golden spoon,

a world where youth can choose their employment,

a world where talents cannot be retained without lifelong jobs,

a world where even at age 70, people are asked to work 2-3 more years,

a world that surpasses Japan in five years,

a world that achieves unification by our own strength without worrying about great powers.

To create such a world, politics must stand upright,

and above all, the economy must revive.

Beyond fake conservatives and fake progressives,

please listen earnestly to alternative political forces that can truly revive the economy.

Through public sector reduction and labor reform,

revive the economy and create jobs,

overcome low birthrate through real estate stabilization and childcare and education policies,

and bring hope through political reform.

Please support the emergence and launch of new alternative political forces.

Professor Kim Hyung-seok of Yonsei University, who turns 101 this year, said

that open-minded dialogue is the most precious.

For a complete replacement of political forces,

we will take the lead with an open mind.

We will surely create the world we dream of.

Thank you.