[Insight & Opinion] A Society Moving Forward Slowly Together: The Path to Coexistence

When visiting Tokyo, Japan, one often notices many workers who might seem unnecessary amid the busy daily life. These include people who use hand signals to help with traffic flow at subway stations or those in uniforms guiding pedestrians about vehicles exiting garages. What initially seems unfamiliar soon becomes a common sight. Last month, when I visited Keio University, I had an experience of seeking the railway information desk due to my poor Japanese, where I encountered an elderly person who was even limping on one leg.

Why do these scenes stand out? Perhaps accepting such inefficiencies?that is, when a community embraces social flexibility allowing anyone, regardless of age or disability, to work in the right place?represents a path of coexistence toward a society that works together. In South Korea, facing population aging and severe low birth rates, relying solely on market economy emphasizing efficiency and government-led support policies makes it difficult to solve these problems and may even worsen them.

Even the minimum wage system, introduced in 1988 to ensure workers' livelihood stability and improve labor quality, has never been fully applied to people with disabilities in over 35 years. Statistics show that protected employment workers with disabilities earn only about 20% of the minimum wage. According to Article 7, Paragraph 1 of the Minimum Wage Act, workers with significantly reduced work capacity due to mental or physical disabilities may be exempted from minimum wage application with approval from the Minister of Employment and Labor. This provision is prone to abuse in a market economy that emphasizes efficiency. According to a recent national audit, Seoul National University Hospital has failed to meet the mandatory employment quota for people with disabilities and instead pays an average annual employment levy of 2.6 billion won as a substitute.

During my visit to Keio University, I had the opportunity to meet Professor Masao Ogaki of the Economics Department. Having studied econometrics for the first time through his papers during my university days, it was an exciting meeting. Professor Masao, nearing retirement, is deeply interested in Japan’s aging population, low birth rates, and child education issues, and he is working on establishing a community structure theory as a new concept to address these problems. In other words, while the roles of the market and government are important in solving social issues, community consciousness is crucial.

Professor Masao cited an example from a gas station in Orlando, Florida, after Hurricane Charlie in 2004, where ice bags that normally cost $2 were sold for $10, and a local motel charged a 77-year-old woman evacuating with her elderly husband and disabled child $260 for a room that usually costs $40. Though harsh, this was a market mechanism of high prices clearing scarcity. In contrast, during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, even half-empty stores did not raise prices, and people calmly lined up in front of these shops without rushing, which amazed English-speaking communities with their composure and community spirit.

What solution do these examples suggest for the social problems we face today? It is the slow path of coexistence. We have successful community experiences overcoming many national crises in the past. Now, it is necessary to concretize this community consciousness as a key solution to major social issues through current agendas and efforts.

Professor Kim Gyu-il, Michigan State University