Low Birthrate Message on SNS After 3 Weeks
Impact on Jeonda Without Direct Political References
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min, who had remained silent after declaring he would not run in the People Power Party leadership election, resumed his social media (SNS) activity after about three weeks.
The main point of his post is that the Yoon Seok-yeol administration has not presented a proper solution to the low birthrate issue, but he also criticized the process surrounding the dismissal of former lawmaker Na Kyung-won, drawing attention to whether this will influence the upcoming leadership election.
On the 22nd, Yoo posted on SNS, "What is the Yoon Seok-yeol government doing to overcome the population crisis as its one-year term passes?" He added, "(So far, what has been done) is only parental allowance and parental leave. Even the expansion of parental leave has no news of legal revision yet. They say regional balanced development is the solution, but it is just talk," raising his voice.
This was about three weeks after he declared on SNS on the 31st of last month that he would not run. At that time, he said, "I will not run for party leader. I will endure and wait for the right time," and remained inactive for a while. His breaking of silence is primarily interpreted as a response to the '2022 Birth and Death Statistics' released by Statistics Korea that day.
According to Statistics Korea on that day, South Korea's total fertility rate last year was 0.78, down 0.03 from the previous year, marking the lowest ever recorded since statistics began. Yoo shared an image file containing the Statistics Korea data and pointed out the serious low birthrate problem, saying, "2022 total fertility rate 0.78, number of births 249,000. Seoul's total fertility rate 0.59. Today's announcement from Statistics Korea."
Yoo has pointed out the 'low birthrate problem' several times in the past. In November last year, he said, "Overcoming the low birthrate is the top national agenda we must solve and an urgent demand of this era," and raised his voice, asking, "What has changed in the six months since the Yoon Seok-yeol government took office?" He also urged solving the population issue during a lecture at Konkuk University in October last year.
Amid the recent surge of the 'anti-Yoon' faction led by the 'Lee Jun-seok group' in the leadership election, it cannot be ruled out that Yoo might provide indirect support. The fact that candidate Cheon Ha-ram passed the cut-off and caused a stir means that Yoo's support base is still alive within the party. People Power Party lawmaker Park Soo-young evaluated on CBS, "Candidate Cheon's run will be a process to check how much support former lawmaker Yoo and former leader Lee Jun-seok receive from responsible party members."
It is also notable in this context that Yoo, while mentioning the low birthrate issue, criticized the dismissal of former lawmaker Na Kyung-won from the position of Vice Chair of the Low Birthrate and Aging Society Committee as "political." Yoo said, "The Vice Chair of the Low Birthrate and Aging Society Committee was politically appointed and politically dismissed," adding, "If President Yoon truly had a conviction to overcome the population crisis, such appointments and dismissals would never be a farce."
In particular, amid controversy over about 30 former Bareun Party and Bareunmirae Party district committee chairs, classified as 'Yoo Seung-min faction,' supporting Kim Ki-hyun, who represents the pro-Yoon faction, attention is focused on how Yoo will respond. On the 20th, when Bareun Party-origin district committee chairs anonymously expressed support for Kim, competing candidates responded by calling it a 'hollow bread support declaration,' and when Kim's side released the support list, criticism arose that it was a 'false list.'
Hwang Young-heon, former Bareun Party Daegu Buk district committee chair, said on his SNS that day, "Those included in the list are from the People's Party and joined when it merged into Bareunmirae Party, and have never been district committee chairs of Bareun Party at any time." He added, "I called other former Bareun Party district committee chairs included in the list, and they clearly stated, 'I support reform conservatism and absolutely do not support Kim Ki-hyun.'"
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