[Insight & Opinion] Pledges That Share Problems Rather Than Promise Solutions

Longstanding Challenges Like Low Birth Rates and Education Remain Unresolved for 20 Years
Don't Try to Solve Everything in Five Years
Presidential Agendas Should Be the Focus

With the presidential election just over 20 days away, a mountain of difficult issues remains unresolved. When looking at the candidates' pledges, our future appears rosy, but it is uncertain how much these promises will actually contribute to solving the major problems facing our society. Why is this the case? I believe it is because the pledges focus only on a bright future, but lack empathy for and acknowledgment of the challenging realities we face today.

For example, if we list the artificial intelligence (AI)-related pledges made so far, they include realizing the goal of becoming one of the top three AI powerhouses, fostering the AI industry, nurturing AI talent, establishing AI regulations, and providing personalized AI services. These pledges paint a bright future, and some of them could be planned and implemented at the ministerial level even without being presidential pledges. The AI era brings many benefits, but it also presents numerous challenges. Addressing job losses due to AI and fundamentally transforming school education to prepare for the AI era are prime examples. These tasks may not seem glamorous and are not easy to achieve, but shouldn't such issues, which are urgently demanded by the times, be set as presidential agendas?

It is not necessarily bad to present many presidential pledges. After all, it is a promise to do many meaningful things for our society. However, if elected president, it would be better to boldly delegate pledges that can be implemented at the ministerial level to the respective ministers. I hope the president will focus on national agendas that require presidential leadership and dedicate their entire term to those issues. It would be even better if, before the election, candidates could clearly distinguish between pledges that can be realized through ministries and those that must be led directly by the president.

I also hope we can abandon the idea that all presidential pledges or agendas must be completed within the five-year term. While it would be ideal to have many policies completed and bearing fruit within five years, the more meaningful and important the policy, the harder that is to achieve. There needs to be a public consensus that simply laying the groundwork, building social agreement, and establishing a mid- to long-term execution plan is already an achievement. Only then can we break the unproductive cycle of overturning existing policies or adopting completely opposite policies every five years.

The Republic of Korea is a society that has moved beyond the stage of rapid growth. To achieve better growth, we must resolve the problems that arose during the period of compressed development. This is why we need pledges that honestly share the realities we face and seek solutions together, rather than simply vowing further growth and problem-solving.

As everyone in the country recognizes, there are countless pressing issues in our society that must be solved, but are extremely difficult to resolve. Low birth rates, an aging population, employment, the concentration of resources in the capital region, and regional development are long-standing challenges that remain unresolved. Solving the problems of the university entrance exam system and private education costs, moving away from knowledge-based education toward competency-based education?these have been the long-held wishes of all parents, yet there has been no progress. Disasters and accidents are increasing, responses to the climate crisis remain lukewarm, political polarization and social conflict are intensifying, and there are alarming signs regarding the nation's mental health.

Now, as we elect a new president, is the optimal time to focus on how to tackle these intractable challenges facing our society. On behalf of the people, I would like to say to the presidential candidates: Present pledges that are actionable and solvable, but leave their implementation to ministers and ministries. Courageously confront the difficult and seemingly unsolvable challenges that cannot be resolved within five years, but must be addressed. Only then will you earn the sincere support of the people and be able to unite the nation to solve these challenges one by one.

Kim Hyungon, Visiting Professor at Chungnam National University Graduate School of National Policy and former President of the National Assembly Futures Institute