"Only Malicious Populist Policies Such as Disaster Relief Funds and Consumption Coupons"
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min criticized President Moon Jae-in on the 19th, saying, "Does he even understand the severity of the economic crisis?" and added, "Judging by his perception of our economy, it is clear that he is a 'president who has given up on the economy.'"
On the same day, Yoo said on Facebook, "Before taking office, President Moon repeatedly criticized the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations, saying they 'ruined the economy.'"
He pointed out, "However, looking at the performance from 2017 to 2019 after he became president, innovation-driven growth was just talk, and by blindly believing in the superstition of income-led growth, our economy lost its growth engine and is suffering from the worst employment disaster and polarization in history, as well as the worst debt burdens on the government, corporations, and households." He added, "Moreover, real estate policies only raised housing prices, monthly rents, and taxes, causing indescribable suffering for the middle class and ordinary citizens."
He continued, "Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic this year, the president has tried to cover up all failures of economic policy by blaming the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19)," and added, "It seems he is trying to deceive the public into thinking that the economy worsened solely because of COVID-19, as if they were not at fault at all."
Yoo criticized, "President Moon only knows public jobs that pour in taxes to manipulate job statistics without any fundamental measures to solve the job problems of young people in their 20s and 30s," and said, "Since this administration began, there has not even been an attempt at regulatory reform, labor reform, or education reform to create growth engines for our economy."
Yoo stated, "It is nothing but malignant populist policies that burden young people with debt, such as public jobs, universal disaster relief funds, and consumption coupons. Such fiscal addiction policies cannot properly prepare our economy for a leap forward after COVID-19," and added, "Due to the time bombs of national debt and household debt, it only creates a more dangerous situation than before COVID-19."
Yoo concluded, "President Moon, who has no interest or knowledge about the dire reality of our economy and only occasionally upsets the people, is why I have long called him the 'president of the moon country who has given up on the economy,'" and said, "To prepare for the post-COVID-19 era, the president and government must now adopt completely new economic policies. I sincerely hope they will listen to voices like this."
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