Declaration of Presidential Candidacy by Rep. Park Yong-jin
"I will create a happy nation to confront unfairness and inequality
As a result of Democratic Party reform, please support Park Yong-jin"
[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Park Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, officially declared his candidacy for the presidential election on the 9th, stating, "I will become a courageous young president."
On that day, at the National Assembly lawn square, Park said, "I am not a predictable figure but a new one, not an established politician but a young challenger. I want to represent the youth generation of our society and the young political generation."
He emphasized, "I will become a courageous president who stands with the people against unfairness and inequality," and "Park Yong-jin will lead the political generational change to work with the young generation driving social change to make the Republic of Korea a world-class innovation-leading country."
Park proposed the 'Happy Nation' as Korea's mission and presented five key policies: △National Happiness Housing △National Happiness Assets △National Happiness Military Service △National Happiness Dividend △National Happiness Startups.
National Happiness Housing refers to expanding housing supply for vulnerable groups such as youth; National Happiness Assets means managing national wealth and pension reform through the creation of the world's largest sovereign wealth fund; National Happiness Military Service involves transitioning to a volunteer military system and gender-equal service; National Happiness Dividend is a system that generates profits based on national data and distributes them to the people; National Happiness Startups aim to foster unicorn companies through regulatory innovation, according to Park.
Below is the full text of Park Yong-jin’s declaration of candidacy for the 20th presidential election.
I will become a president who builds a happy nation with the people. I will become a courageous president who stands with the people against unfairness and inequality. I will become a young president who leads political generational change and changes the era with the people.
Respected citizens, beloved party members and comrades! Today, with a trembling heart and hope for the future, I officially declare my candidacy for the 20th presidential election of the Republic of Korea.
Right now, Korea is changing rapidly. Generational change is happening quickly in all fields except politics. The young generation is leading the era in all areas such as economy, sports, and culture and arts. Only politics is lagging behind the times. It is not only failing to create the change the people want but also unable to keep up with the pace of change.
Our political circles have been trapped in predictable figures and old frameworks for the past decade. Conflicts between generations and factions have deepened, and regressive divisions and confrontations have become extreme. Political leaders are caught in factional logic and conflict structures, unable to talk about social integration and future tasks. The people desperately want change in our politics because the politicians who should lead the new generation and Korea are old and exhausted.
If politics does not change, the world cannot change. We must achieve a generational change in politics to bring about an era change in Korea. Those figures and forces responsible for disappointing and angering the youth generation with old and lethargic politics over the past decade cannot lead the new era.
I, Park Yong-jin, a new figure, not a predictable one, a young challenger, not an established politician, want to represent the youth generation of our society and the young political generation. I will lead the political generational change to work with the young generation driving social change to make Korea a world-class innovation-leading country.
I will not be the kind youngest sibling of the old era but the strong eldest brother of the new era. I will be the vanguard who breaks the old political framework and starts the political revolution in Korea. I will be a young president leading the great journey of change and innovation in Korean society.
Generational change in politics is necessary to enable social reform for generational integration connecting the industrialization generation, democratization generation, and millennials. The young generation born in advanced Korea cannot be the same as the older generation born in developing countries. To work with them, there must be generational integration and compromise. I will be a president who leads generational concessions and agreements in all areas unfavorable to youth and future generations, such as housing, asset growth, pension reform, labor reform, and education reform.
I promise that Park Yong-jin will achieve social and economic generational integration through political generational change and lead Korea’s era change as a leader of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Let’s move forward to a happy nation!
The people of Korea are struggling. Anxiety and worries are increasing in real estate, financial investment, and retirement preparation. No matter how hard they try, the dream of owning a home has become unattainable, and preparing for a happy old age is out of reach as they struggle just to maintain their daily lives.
Korean youth are struggling. Worries about jobs and anxiety about the future are leading to giving up on ordinary happiness such as marriage and childbirth. Although the country has become wealthy, the people are not happy.
Korea has been a country where ordinary people could succeed. Even without a prestigious family background or large inherited wealth, it was a country where one could succeed through passion and effort. We believe that the future Korea must also be a country where such hope can be dreamed of. It must be a society that supports young people to nurture their dreams and plan their lives. A society where ordinary, diligent, and honest people can succeed and be happy?that is the happy Korea we dream of.
I will build that 'Happy Nation' together with the people.
Building a happy nation is a path the Korean community must walk together. The Korean people lifted the poorest country in the world to create the 'industrial nation' era and achieved a 'democratic nation' by overcoming unprecedented iron-fisted rule. Although still insufficient, we have rapidly established a 'welfare state' system. Now, we must take one step further. We must not remain at the minimum safety net of 'security' and 'relief' of the welfare state but become a country where what the people desire is realized and the fruits of their efforts are institutionally guaranteed?that is the 'Happy Nation.'
Building a happy nation is the realization of the long-standing hope embodied in Article 10 of our Constitution. Just as the realization of Article 1 of our Constitution?'The Republic of Korea is a democratic republic,' 'All power in the Republic of Korea derives from the people'?did not happen automatically, Article 10?'All citizens shall have the dignity and value as human beings and the right to pursue happiness. The state shall confirm and guarantee the inviolable basic human rights of individuals'?must not remain a mere declaration but become the goal of state administration and a tangible force creating change in the lives of our people.
Building a happy nation is not about elegant excitement but about thrilling intensity. It is a struggle for progressive social change and a total war to realize the spirit of the Constitution. Because the happiness of the people must be supported not only by individual subjective satisfaction or psychological stability but also by economic, social conditions and institutional changes. The process of building a happy nation is a confrontation with old bureaucrats and some vested interests. I will courageously confront those forces who care only about maintaining their influence and want to keep our society trapped in unfair and unequal structures that firmly guarantee their interests rather than making all people happy.
It takes courage to build a happy nation where ordinary people without money, power, or connections can live proudly with their heads held high. It requires passion and conviction.
Park Yong-jin will start the courageous challenge toward a happy nation. Since I cannot do it alone, I will achieve it in the name of the Democratic Party, together with party members and the people.
Park Yong-jin has done such work. He passed the Kindergarten 3 Laws for our children by confronting the vested interests of the Korean Federation of Private Kindergartens (Han Youchong), fought without hesitation to uphold law and justice against illegalities and unfair practices of conglomerate heads, and persistently raised the issue of automobile manufacturing defects for five years to achieve recalls and free repairs for public safety against the tyranny of large corporations. He has worked to improve the short-selling system in the unfair stock market.
It was scary and difficult, but together with the people and in the name of the Democratic Party, we achieved results and brought about social change. Now, to create greater change, I will become a courageous president who stands against unfairness and inequality to build a happy nation.
I will solve the real estate problem, which has become the target of the people's anger and frustration, for the happiness of the people. Above all, I will take the lead in guaranteeing the people's right to housing. The government's goal should be housing stability for the people, not controlling real estate prices in Gangnam. I will fix the systems that need fixing and create necessary systems to realize the happy dream of owning a home. I will supply housing where needed and prepare various policies for vulnerable groups such as youth rental support.
I will make the country rich and the people wealthy. I will present the Korean version of Temasek to the people and create the world's largest and best sovereign wealth fund to efficiently manage national wealth and reform the national pension. I will establish stable and long-term asset formation systems such as the 'National Happiness Savings Account' with an annual return of over 7% and open the era of '500 million won national asset success.' I will open an era where all people dream of happy asset growth.
I will build a national security system where all citizens can be happy and reliable defenders. By transitioning to a volunteer military system, I will nurture an elite army and open the 'All Citizens Happy Equal Military Service Era' where all citizens can be the main force of national defense through gender-equal service. I will support young people’s social advancement by applying military pensions during service so that military duty is no longer seen as a waste of time. I will immediately end the era of cheap conscription so that military duty is not humiliating.
I will end the era of unfriendly welfare administration where citizens’ duties are demanded instantly but their rights require collecting all kinds of documents to apply. I will eliminate bureaucrat-centered desk administration, departmental selfishness, and siloed administration. I will shift welfare benefits, which are citizens’ rights, from an application-based to a proactive system and build a 'Welfare Administration Integrated Platform' that integrates all administrative services one-stop. Based on this, I will open the 'All Citizens Happy Dividend Era' where all citizens can be owners of happy dividends. Instead of populist administration that collects taxes and redistributes them or fiscal abuse policies that increase tax burdens on citizens and businesses by tens of trillions, I will open a new national dividend system that generates profits based on citizens’ data, the oil of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and distributes them evenly to the people.
I will lead Korea as an innovation-leading country of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. I will support young people’s startup challenges and organize support systems so that failure is not feared. I will abolish the three major regulations: bureaucratic seal regulations, entry barriers by existing mainstream businesses, and market monopolies centered on large corporations, to open the gold rush era of innovation. I will pave the innovation highway that will be the main artery of Korea’s third economic revival, nurture more unicorn companies, and open the 'All Citizens Happy Innovation Startup Era' where 10 or 20 companies like Samsung Electronics can emerge.
I will build a strong market preparing for the future, a fair society, a world where labor is respected, opportunities to be recognized by ability, gap reduction, a society where people with disabilities can live proudly, and an equal society where no citizen suffers unfair discrimination?a country where Article 10 of the Korean Constitution is realized.
I will struggle for innovation and change in the Democratic Party.
Dear citizens who love the Democratic Party! Dear party members and comrades! Predictable figures and predictable frameworks can only lead to predictable defeat. Old figures and old values cannot take responsibility for the new era.
The Democratic Party is now at the center of a crisis. The crisis of the Democratic Party is not just a crisis of one party but means the failure of important era tasks entrusted by the people, such as leapfrogging to a world-class innovation-leading country, solving people’s livelihood issues, peace on the Korean Peninsula, and promoting social reforms including prosecution reform. It is a tremendous regression in history and an unforgivable sin as a political force.
We say the Democratic Party must innovate and change, but the people see that we only talk about innovation. This cannot continue. Wise people do not show mercy to political forces that only talk about change.
This Democratic Party presidential primary is the last chance to show the people the sincerity of change. In the party primary, we must demonstrate moral superiority and policy competence to properly shoulder the historic tasks and responsibilities given to the Moon Jae-in administration through regime re-creation.
Dear party members and comrades who love the Democratic Party and Korea! Please choose Park Yong-jin, a young new figure armed with a new vision and full of confidence to build a new Korea. Please put Park Yong-jin, who is ready to continue the achievements of the Moon Jae-in administration, complete the tasks of our era properly, and make Korea a world-class innovation-leading country, at the forefront of this presidential election. I will be the vanguard who races across the grasslands of social change and reform, raising dust.
Our people are waiting for a politician who stands up on their own and a politician armed with a pioneering spirit to appear as the new face of the Democratic Party. I will not be a successor who relies on factions or someone’s support but a political leader who rises from the margins to the center with the people and party members. Please choose me, Park Yong-jin. Together with the people, I will make a victory in the presidential election.
Party members and comrades!
To achieve the success of the Moon Jae-in administration and regime re-creation, we must walk with the people without wavering for a moment. We must not be trapped in our own castle. We must go out to the wider sea of the people. We must not be trapped in the past. We must go to the future. We must listen to the stories of the people and focus on their concerns, not just our own stories and interests.
We must focus on livelihood issues such as jobs, startups, housing policies, and asset growth, and show preparedness in security issues such as transitioning to a volunteer military system, defense reform, strategies to respond to US-China conflicts, and peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. We must be able to say NO not only to the US but also to China and North Korea. We must not be led by North Korea. For peace, we must be firm when firm and speak up when needed. We must answer the concerns of ordinary people about health, children’s education, and retirement planning and create a society where common sense prevails. We must change first.
Please put Park Yong-jin forward as the desperate struggle and reform for the Democratic Party’s change. Make Park Yong-jin the proof of the Democratic Party’s innovation. The Democratic Party, with young presidential candidate Park Yong-jin at the forefront, will surely win the presidential election. Together with the people, we will create a great transformation in Korean politics. I promise the second political revolution since Kim Dae-jung’s 40s generation theory and the second great upheaval in Korean politics since the Roh Moo-hyun wave.
I dream of a new world where all people are happy!
I will win the primary, become the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, and become the fourth democratic reform government president following Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, and Moon Jae-in. I will continue the great steps to build a happy nation, a government for the people, a participatory government, and a country worthy of its name. I will be a president who creates happiness by opening the future through optimism, hope, integration, and common-sense politics. I will restore the country of opportunity, growth, success, and confidence.
Together with the people and party members, I will face the climate crisis and low birthrate crisis with a broad vision looking a hundred years ahead. I will write answers to long-standing social tasks such as pension reform and education reform. I will find solutions to many challenges posed by COVID-19. I will be a president who creates social consensus so that new labor can become quality jobs through active policies for self-employed support and new labor forms, not appealing to conglomerates for good jobs. I will prepare long-term measures for the 'With Corona' era, not 'Post Corona,' in quarantine, economy, and healthcare.
The dreams we dream together will become reality. Party members and comrades! Will you not dream of a new world with Park Yong-jin? Citizens! Will you not become the owners of a new world together with Park Yong-jin and the Democratic Party?
Please start the happy challenge with Park Yong-jin, a courageous young president who will build a happy nation Korea. Today, I declare my candidacy for the presidential election wearing a mask and with a limited number of people, but I promise the people that one year from now, here at the National Assembly, I will take office as the 20th president of Korea, remove my mask, smile brightly, and take the first step toward building a happy nation together with the people who have overcome COVID-19.
Please join me from the beginning to the end of this overwhelming promise.
Thank you.
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