[Interview] Jo Seongju "Abolishing Retirement Age, Tax Increase... New Choice Raises Topics We Knew But Couldn't Address"

"The keyword penetrating the pledge is maturity"
"The third zone enables social grand compromise"

The third-party political group 'Saeroun Seontaek' (New Choice) has been unveiling bold pledges day after day, including raising value-added tax, gradually increasing national pension premiums, and abolishing the retirement age. While a newly established party might pursue populist policies, the distinctive feature of Saeroun Seontaek's pledges is that they propose topics that might lose votes in order to seek solutions. Why did Saeroun Seontaek make such a 'choice'?

Jo Seong-ju, co-representative of Saeroun Seontaek who led the announcement of the pledges, said in an interview held at the party headquarters on the 23rd, "We anticipated controversy." Jo said that expert groups who reviewed and consulted on the pledges beforehand told him, "Whether from the right or the left, you will be criticized, but many said that you are presenting what is necessary at this time." He added, "Given the era’s circumstances such as low growth, super-aging, and industrial transformation, we are at a crossroads whether to enter the lost 30 years that Japan experienced or to have a different 30 years. We started discussing pledges from the point of what structures need to be changed." He stated, "Korea is now a developed country," and that the keyword running through the pledges is 'maturity.' As Korea has now entered a mature society from a growth country, we have begun to consider the qualitative maturity of our society."

Jo Seong-ju, co-representative of New Choice, is being interviewed by Asia Economy. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Recently, Saeroun Seontaek announced a bold tax reform plan. For example, apartments at average price levels in Seoul would be exempt from inheritance and gift taxes when passed on to children or others, and corporate share inheritance and gift taxes would also be reduced. Income tax deductions would be drastically reduced, effectively increasing the tax burden, and they are also considering raising value-added tax. However, they promised to strengthen support for low-income groups through negative income tax measures such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). They not only touched on the inheritance and gift tax issue, which the progressive camp had an allergic reaction to, but also openly advocated for tax increases.

He said, "In fact, this solution is considered a model answer by bureaucrats, policy makers, and policy brains of both major parties. Considering the conditions we face, the answer (regardless of camp) cannot be very different," adding, "The difference is whether one has courageously spoken about it or not." He explained, "In the current political structure, if one side states the answer, the other side says it is wrong. In this structure, they only lie to each other. That is why it is necessary to speak the truth." Regarding the controversial topic of inheritance and gift taxes, he said, "In reality, the portion of inheritance and gift taxes in total taxation is not large, but this topic is so provocative that it blocks overall tax reform," and introduced, "The reason for advocating a reduction in corporate share inheritance and gift tax rates is that currently, people try to evade tax burdens through loopholes, causing more problems, so we want to tidy up this part." Such a compromise also has a class compromise meaning.

In addition, Saeroun Seontaek recently proposed labor reform measures that abolish both the seniority-based wage system and the retirement age. When these pledges were announced, online criticism followed, asking, "What about the youth unemployment problem?" In response, Co-representative Jo said, "We must already acknowledge that we have entered the 100-year life era," and added, "Although it is a controversial proposal, saying to abolish the retirement age may sound contradictory, but it is a measure to avoid extending the retirement age." He explained, "If we continue with the current structure, the retirement age will eventually be extended compared to now, which worsens the job situation for young people," and said, "It would be better to abolish the retirement age and change the wage system to a job-based pay system, which could increase job opportunities for young people." Jo said, "Under the current seniority system, the salary difference between new employees and long-term employees is threefold, but in Europe, it is about 1.7 to 1.8 times, and in Japan about 2.1 times," adding, "At least the gap should be reduced to the Japanese level." He also saw that abolishing the retirement age could respond to welfare demands due to aging. Jo said, "As society moves toward working until age 70, if these people pay pensions and taxes, the burden on the next generation can ultimately be reduced."

Offering solutions different from other parties that argue along ideological lines is thanks to the uniqueness of the third-party space. Jo explained that since the third-party space was started to break the framework of the two major parties, it can propose pledges that are difficult to come out of the existing political grammar. He said, "In the two major parties or progressive parties, it is difficult to propose reformist pledges because the interests of existing supporters are strongly tied," and added, "The third-party space is a political group that needs to newly realign its supporters, so it can attempt this kind of approach."

However, merely presenting an agenda does not solve the problem. Ultimately, the implementation of pledges is necessary, and Saeroun Seontaek’s pledges require social grand compromise. Regarding this, Jo said, "If the third-party space emerges and proposes new compromise plans, I believe our political circle can also seek compromises toward proper answers," adding, "If changes can be made in the hostile political structure, compromises can be achieved." He explained, "Frankly speaking, social grand compromise is exchanging long-term interests for short-term interests," and said, "Labor-management-government negotiations ultimately mean that the government and politics guarantee long-term interests, so labor and management should give up short-term interests." He continued, "If long-term interests are not guaranteed every time the regime changes, labor and management will focus on short-term interests," and said, "From the perspective of increasing political stability, a third party is necessary."

Jo Seong-ju, co-representative of New Choice, is being interviewed by Asia Economy. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Saeroun Seontaek has been releasing pledges busier than the two major parties, sometimes on a daily basis. Regarding this, Co-representative Jo said, "We are hurrying to announce pledges," and added, "While political engineering regarding how the third-party space will unify will attract attention, it is better to present and discuss our own solutions and awareness of social problems more before that." In fact, on the 22nd, Saeroun Seontaek announced the same pledge as Lee Jun-seok’s Reform New Party regarding prosecution reform, but the next day, unlike the Reform New Party’s pledge to abolish free rides for the elderly, they announced a different pledge to maintain free rides for the elderly but raise the age of eligibility for support. He said, "We want to present criteria to identify differences and commonalities in the third-party unification discussions."