Yoon: "No Future in Maintaining Privileges... The Three Major Reforms Cannot Be Delayed"

Emphasizing 'Labor, Education, and Pension' Reforms in New Year's Address
"Economic Growth Must Be Driven Through Labor Reform"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] President Yoon Suk-yeol stated on the 1st, "We can no longer delay the three major reforms of labor, education, and pensions, which determine the future of the Republic of Korea and future generations."

In his New Year's address that morning, President Yoon emphasized his stance to actively promote the three major reforms for the new year, saying, "A country obsessed with maintaining vested interests and seeking rents has no future."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon first pointed to 'labor reform.' He stressed, "We must drive the growth of our economy through labor reform," adding, "We will make every effort to flexibly transform the labor market according to changing demands, establish fairness in labor-management and labor-labor (노노) relations, and improve safety in the workplace."

He also pointed out the dual structure of the labor market. President Yoon explained, "Government support should be differentiated between companies that are transitioning to job-based and performance-based pay systems and those stuck in seniority-based systems due to compromises with aristocratic militant unions." In particular, he elaborated, "The starting point of such labor reform is labor-management rule of law," emphasizing, "Labor-management rule of law is the way to prevent unnecessary disputes and conflicts and truly respect the value of labor."

Regarding education reform, he stated, "We will boldly transfer authority over higher education, which is directly linked to our country's competitiveness, to local regions and support them to connect with local industries." President Yoon added, "Without such education reform, achieving regional balanced development is difficult," and "Regional balanced development is the shortcut to solving the low birthrate problem, and we will diversify educational curricula so that the future generations can receive the education they desire and ensure that everyone enjoys fair opportunities."

Regarding pension reform, he mentioned, "Countries that have succeeded in pension reform share the commonality of aiming for social consensus by conducting long-term research and discussions to reach conclusions," and said, "We will swiftly promote scientific investigations and research on pension finances, gather public opinions, and carry out public discussions to submit reform proposals to the National Assembly."

President Yoon said, "The obsession of vested interests is persistent, and compromise with vested interests is an easy and comfortable path, but we have never been satisfied with a small sea," adding, "Freedom will offer us more opportunities, and solidarity will present us with a greater future."