President Moon to Address 'InGukGong Incident' Directly...? Impact on Support Among People in Their 20s

Members of the Incheon International Airport Corporation Labor Union held placards while announcing their stance on the regularization of non-regular security screening personnel at a press conference near the Blue House in Seoul on the afternoon of the 25th. 2020.6.25 [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] The policy of converting non-regular workers to regular workers at Incheon International Airport Corporation, which has become known as the so-called 'In-guk-gong Incident' among job seekers in their 20s and escalated into an issue of unfairness, has drawn attention as President Moon Jae-in is expected to directly address the situation. Last week, when the In-guk-gong issue intensified, President Moon's approval rating among people in their 20s dropped sharply by more than 10 percentage points.

On the afternoon of the 29th, President Moon will preside over a senior secretaries and aides meeting at the Blue House. Since the opening remarks of the meeting usually cover current issues, there is a possibility that President Moon will directly mention the In-guk-gong incident. The reason why attention is particularly focused on President Moon's message is that this incident arose during the implementation of a key presidential campaign pledge.

Although Hwang Deok-soon, the chief secretary for jobs, and others in charge at the Blue House have stepped forward to explain, criticism has emerged that they do not fully understand the core issues raised by the youth, which has only fueled resistance. A senior Blue House official told reporters the day before, "The government's policy to convert non-regular workers to regular workers aims to resolve social polarization, which has been regarded as a major problem in our society, and to improve social inequality by turning bad jobs into good jobs," adding, "The goal is to start from the public sector and expand to the private sector." However, the official also said, "In any case, through this controversy, we have come face to face with the desperation of young people living in our society today," and added, "The government will do its utmost to empathize with the pain of all generations."

Opinions are divided even within the ruling party. Lee Won-wook, a three-term member of the Democratic Party of Korea, posted on his Facebook the day before, "The anger of young people related to In-guk-gong is a challenge to the widespread unfairness in our society and is an issue that must be listened to," and said, "It is a fundamental question of whether the government's labor policy is on the right track," expressing a different tone from other ruling party figures.

On the other hand, Kim Doo-kwan, a Democratic Party lawmaker who previously sparked strong backlash by defining the incident as a 'sense of privilege among graduates of prestigious universities,' shifted his criticism to the opposition party on the same day, saying, "The United Future Party seems to be displeased with the conversion of non-regular workers in the public sector to regular workers." He reiterated the existing position that "If the number of regular positions increases and the wage gap narrows due to the conversion to regular workers, young people will have more opportunities to find good jobs," and added, "I hope that, taking the In-guk-gong debate as an opportunity, both ruling and opposition parties will pool wisdom to create good policies that can properly solve labor market issues."

Meanwhile, in the evaluation of President Moon's state affairs performance released by Realmeter on the same day, the approval rating among people in their 20s rebounded by 3.5 percentage points from the previous week to 50.5%. However, this did not offset the 10.2% drop in approval rating that occurred last week when the In-guk-gong incident became a major issue. In a survey conducted by Gallup on the 26th, the approval rating among people in their 20s fell by 12 percentage points in one week to 41%.