Ha Tae-kyung: "Moon Jae-in has effectively admitted the unfairness of the 'In-guk-gong incident'"

President Moon Emphasizes "Fairness" in Youth Day Speech on the 19th
Ha Tae-gyeong: "Wrong Policies Must Be Changed Immediately"

President Moon Jae-in is delivering a commemorative speech at the 1st Youth Day ceremony held at the Green Garden of the Blue House on the morning of the 19th. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, criticized President Moon Jae-in's 'Youth Day Commemorative Speech,' saying it "virtually acknowledges that the indiscriminate regularization of Incheon International Airport (In-gukgong) workers is unfair to young people."

On the 21st, Ha wrote on his Facebook, "He must immediately withdraw the unfair regularization that he himself initiated," asserting this.

Earlier, on the 19th, President Moon emphasized at the 1st Youth Day ceremony held at the Blue House's Greenhouse, "I deeply feel the high demand for fairness among young people," and "Fairness may not be fully achieved, but it is the government's unwavering goal." In his speech that day, President Moon mentioned the word 'fairness' 37 times.

He also said, "For fairness to be newly established from the perspective of youth, fairness must be felt across recruitment, education, military service, society, and culture," adding, "Sometimes one fairness has caused another unfairness."

There is a view that this refers to the so-called 'In-gukgong incident' that arose over the direct employment of security screening personnel at Incheon International Airport Corporation, and the 'reverse discrimination' controversy among young people when some South Korean national team players lost their Olympic participation opportunities due to the formation of a unified North-South women's ice hockey team at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Regarding this, Ha claimed, "In fact, the In-gukgong incident started from President Moon's indiscriminate order to regularize all workers without accurate diagnosis or solutions during his visit to Incheon International Airport in May 2017," and "Over the following three years, the only solution found to fulfill the presidential pledge was unfair regularization, which ultimately caused a sense of loss and anger among hundreds of thousands of young people."

He continued, "The 37 mentions of fairness by President Moon on Youth Day are not just words," pointing out that "The president himself must directly apologize to young people and immediately change the flawed policy for even a single 'fairness' to be achieved."

He emphasized, "The president must personally step in and immediately withdraw the unfair regularization of In-gukgong that started with his indiscriminate order."