[Insight & Opinion] The Three Major Social Infrastructures Demanded by the Times

[Asia Economy] In a society, countless people live together over many years. For all these people to live well together, it is essential to build common social infrastructure properly. Social infrastructure is difficult for an individual to establish; it requires the nation to invest significant time and effort to develop it. It is the early days of a new government. While addressing immediate issues is important, it is also absolutely necessary to build new social infrastructure demanded by the times with a long-term perspective.

Although the Republic of Korea has a relatively short history of just over 70 years, it is a global advanced model in building social infrastructure. In the 1960s, when the per capita national income was less than 100 dollars, the Gyeongbu Expressway was constructed. In the 1980s, one telephone per household was established, and in the 1990s, one internet connection per household was spread. Within a short time, Korea built world-class transportation, communication, and energy infrastructure, allowing all citizens to enjoy its benefits. In short, Korea is a powerhouse of social infrastructure.

However, changes in the era now demand the construction of new social infrastructure. Beyond hardware infrastructure such as transportation, communication, and energy, soft social infrastructure is needed. Human infrastructure such as educational infrastructure, health infrastructure, and care infrastructure is the 21st-century social infrastructure required by this era.

First, educational infrastructure. The current educational infrastructure is based on the 6-3-3-4 school system established over 60 years ago. There is no officially established system beyond university at the institutional level. Now, individuals live beyond 100 years. The education received through the 6-3-3-4 system is far from sufficient to live a lifetime.

A 100-year education system covering an individual's entire life must be newly established at the national level, and a national education and learning fund for this purpose must be secured. Infrastructure for personalized education for all citizens must also be developed.

Next is health infrastructure. The most important requirement for living in the 100-year era is health. Health is also the primary condition for happiness. To maintain lifelong health, one must take care of health from an early age. Nevertheless, physical education in schools is gradually losing its place, overshadowed by other subjects.

For children and adolescents, health and sports education must be prioritized and strengthened within the current 6-3-3-4 school system. The proportion of health and sports education in elementary, middle, and high school classes should be comprehensively reformed to occupy the largest share. Health and sports education for adults should also be institutionalized. Health and sports education must be established as one of the most fundamental and essential welfare systems.

Finally, care infrastructure. Along with education and health, the public sector area that the nation should focus on most in the future for individuals' lives is care and nurturing activities. This includes personal care services for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, as well as environmental care services that manage and care for the environment, nature, local communities, and aging facilities. In the sense of caring for health and enhancing capabilities, even education and health sectors are included in the broader scope of care and nurturing activities.

The ultimate goal of the service industry is care and nurturing services for humans. Building new educational infrastructure, health infrastructure, and care infrastructure demanded by the 21st century also brings about new job creation effects that respond to the flow of the times. It is possible to catch two rabbits at once: building new human infrastructure and creating new human jobs. This is why a 21st-century human infrastructure national strategy is urgently needed, beyond the 20th-century type social infrastructure construction.

Kim Hyun-gon, Director of the National Assembly Future Institute