Cheong "Political evaluation of the economy does not help the next government"

The Blue House in Seoul on the 25th, where President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Seok-youl continue to clash over the relocation of the office and the appointment of the Governor of the Bank of Korea. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Park Su-hyun, Senior Secretary for Public Communication at the Blue House, said on the 24th, "Although it is a period of government transition, evaluating the economy from a political perspective does not help the next administration."

On the same day, Park posted a message titled 'The President's Story Not in the Briefing' on SNS, stating, "Excessive disparagement of achievements or evaluations that are not objective are very dangerous for the future."

Park pointed out, "The recent economic evaluations from the political circles reported in the media can be summed up as 'total failure,'" adding, "If people keep hearing things like 'the economy is a mess, the country is buried in debt, and the new government must start from ruins,' more citizens will inevitably come to think that way."

He warned that such evaluations could isolate the public from economic realities and "could become a self-defeating move for the next government."

This appears to be in response to Ahn Cheol-soo, the head of the transition committee, who recently criticized the Moon administration's economic situation at a plenary meeting, saying, "The economy is a mess, the country is buried in debt, and the people are bent over."

Park stated, "Under the Moon Jae-in administration, despite the COVID-19 crisis, the Korean economy maintained the fastest growth rate and solidified its position as the world's 10th largest economy," citing positive economic indicators such as achieving a per capita income of $35,000 last year and recording the highest trade and export volumes.