Park Byung-won "If Money is Released Without Regulatory Reform... Jobs Won't Increase, Only Real Estate Prices Will Rise"

Future United Party 'Soda' Seminar Lecture
"The United Party changed its name too often to remember," "The right wing ruled for a long time but did no regulatory reform," direct criticism delivered

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Lee Ji-eun and Kim Hye-min] Former Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation Park Byung-won warned that without regulatory reform, merely expanding the budget will not increase jobs but will only drive up stocks and real estate prices.

On the 18th, at the Future United Party's 'Cider' seminar held under the theme "How to Overcome the Post-Corona Economic Crisis," Chairman Park emphasized regulatory reform, stating, "Our country is blocking the path to investment at many points, so no matter how much money is injected, it will not connect to investment and jobs but will only cause asset inflation and widen the wealth gap."

He pointed out, "The government is currently injecting money to respond to the post-corona era, but if you consider income-led growth, this has been the case all along," adding, "Raising the minimum wage, providing disaster relief payments to all citizens, and basic income are all similar stories."

Chairman Park said, "The assumption is that increasing spending will lead to investment and jobs, but in our country, regulations that prevent investment and job creation have been deeply entrenched for a very long time," and "In this situation, just injecting money will not increase investment or jobs but will only raise asset prices, stock prices, and real estate prices."

He criticized, "The government tells the public that the OECD recommended Korea to actively expand fiscal spending because there is room to do so, but such recommendations come from not understanding our country's circumstances," and "No matter how much fiscal spending is expanded and interest rates lowered to create conditions, they do not realize that investment and jobs do not follow for other reasons."

Chairman Park also criticized both conservatives and progressives for having little difference in economic policy. He said, "To become a prosperous country, both freedom and welfare are necessary. Conservatives want to provide welfare to those in need, while progressives want to go directly through welfare. Ultimately, it is about deregulation, which has not been achieved for 20 years," he pointed out.

This was a critique that the right wing failed to do what was necessary during their time in power. Chairman Park said, "I want to say that the miserable economic reality today was caused because the predecessors of the United Party were in power for a long time but the right wing failed to do what was necessary," adding, "Even giving freedom to those who need it should have led to investment and job growth, but they failed even at granting freedom."

During this, he asked, "Is the party's name Future United Party?" and said, "I resigned as chairman of the Korea Employers Federation when it was the Grand National Party, so progress was limited. The party has changed its name so often that it is hard to remember."

He also pointed out the harmful effects of price and inflation control policies used by successive governments. He said, "Price and inflation controls have been the government's position unchanged since former President Park Chung-hee, but they have the effect of lowering the value of our companies ourselves," and "In the name of reducing the burden on citizens, the service industry is prevented from making money, and the reason citizens are accustomed to this perspective is because politicians have made pledges and promises to the public."

He added, "People compare the lowest prices online, but they do not choose their children's schools based on the cheapest tuition," and "When people have money, they want to spend it on areas like education, but if they are prevented from doing so, do you think that is what the public wants? This is a serious obstruction."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.