[100 Days of the Yoon Administration] Yoon Government Misses 'Golden Time'... Fails to Take First Step in Reform

-Government Spent National Resources Addressing Issues During First 100 Days... Unable to Present Long-Term Vision
-No Blueprint for Reform... No Basis to Evaluate New Policies

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] [Editor's Note] The Yoon Seok-yeol administration, which succeeded in regime change with a narrow victory after a tough presidential race, marks its 100th day since its launch on the 17th. The public expected President Yoon to respect individual will and focus on restoring the market economy, as he emphasized 'freedom democracy' and 'market economy' in line with the major direction of governance centered on 'freedom.' However, the past 100 days, considered the 'golden time' for new government policy implementation, were consumed by responding to current issues. The blueprint for 'reform,' which was supposed to present a long-term vision, has yet to be revealed, contrary to initial plans. Due to noise surrounding the presidential office and the ruling party, there is currently no basis to evaluate the new government's policies.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The first instruction President Yoon gave to his aides after taking office was to 'consider measures against rising prices.' At the first senior secretaries' meeting immediately after his first day at work, he said, "The people are always struggling with these livelihood difficulties that bend their backs, so we must carefully fill out various economic indicators and continuously consider the causes of price increases and corresponding suppression measures."

However, the measures were far from stabilizing prices. On the second day after taking office, an extraordinary Cabinet meeting was held to approve a supplementary budget focused on COVID-19 loss support for small business owners. The amount was 59.4 trillion won, the largest ever. Despite the need to tighten the purse strings, the government introduced a policy to inject more money into the market. President Yoon emphasized, "If we do not put out the urgent fire right now, it could shake fiscal soundness with even greater welfare costs in the future."

The government's first tax reform plan, which focused on tax cuts to strengthen corporate competitiveness and reduce the tax burden on ordinary citizens, also had a clear purpose. It emphasized lowering corporate tax, income tax, and comprehensive real estate tax rates to open the way for private-led growth. However, given the opposition party's characterization of this as a 'tax cut for the rich' in the current minority government situation, the outcome is uncertain.

The first 100 days of a new government are often regarded as the 'golden time for policy.' Since public expectations are at their highest, it is possible to secure momentum for reform. Seong Il-jong, chairman of the People Power Party's Policy Committee, repeatedly emphasized, "The first 100 days of the Yoon Seok-yeol government is the golden time for successful governance." However, the Yoon administration's first 100 days were far from realizing its vision. Although a new policy discussion forum called the 'Emergency Economic and Livelihood Meeting,' chaired directly by the president and attended by aides and field visits, was introduced, it was limited to responding to current issues such as prices and interest burden relief.

Meanwhile, the three major reforms (education, pension, labor) emphasized by President Yoon at the National Assembly have not even taken their first steps. In his policy speech to the National Assembly on May 16, a week after his inauguration, President Yoon appealed, "Without pension, labor, and education reform, sustainability is threatened," but follow-up measures are virtually nonexistent. Recently, a special committee on pension reform was formed in the National Assembly, but at the government level, only the actuarial review of the National Pension Service has begun.

All these areas are expected to be socially contentious, and the fact that the ministers of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health and Welfare, which are responsible for education and pension reform, remain vacant casts doubt on the will for reform. Considering that Education Minister Park Soon-ae resigned after 34 days in office and that Professor Jeong Ho-young of Kyungpook National University and former National Assembly member Kim Seung-hee were dropped as candidates for the Minister of Health and Welfare, even if these ministers are appointed, it will already be a burdensome situation to push forward reforms.

Above all, the regime's approval rating, which is the driving force for successful social consensus, does not support it at all. It has fallen to the 20% range, a level comparable to a lame-duck period. Inside the presidential office, it is estimated that it will take at least two to three months to turn the declining approval rating into an upward trend. This means it will be difficult to secure momentum for pension reform by the end of the year.

There is a forecast that moves to preemptively block noise around President Yoon will emerge on the occasion of the government's 100th day. A ruling party official said, "We need to organize issues that the presidential office aides can prevent in advance, including controversies surrounding First Lady Kim Geon-hee and remaining personnel issues, while strengthening the identity of policies." A minor personnel reshuffle, such as reinforcing aides, is also expected soon. However, a major personnel overhaul by President Yoon is likely to take place only by the end of the year. A senior presidential office official said, "Since there are many policies that require cooperation from the National Assembly, we will also foster a political cooperation atmosphere until the end of the year."

[Image source=Yonhap News]