Lee Nak-yeon "Populism Intensifies as Income Polarization Worsens"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Lee Nak-yeon, the Standing Election Committee Chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 23rd regarding support for the youth, "It is worth considering providing participation income if they do meaningful work for the social community."

At a lecture at Chung-Ang University on the same day, Chairman Lee said, "The idea is to provide income sufficient for a minimum standard of living," adding, "For example, participation income can be given for ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) activities."

Regarding support for the cultural and artistic sectors, Chairman Lee explained, "Ultimately, I hope to establish something like a cultural and artistic mutual aid system," describing it as "a fund that helps those whose income falls below a certain level to maintain a minimum standard of living for a certain period."

On his profit-sharing system plan, Chairman Lee emphasized, "Conservatives criticize it as twisting the arms of companies, while progressives say it would be better to just collect taxes," adding, "I have no intention of making it mandatory. Starting with voluntary participation is important."

Regarding the new welfare system, Chairman Lee stated, "It is about filling in the gaps while acknowledging existing welfare," and added, "Since it has been sufficiently verified worldwide, there is no need to conduct experiments or such."

In response to a question about the reduction in public enterprise hiring due to the Moon Jae-in administration's zero non-regular worker policy, Chairman Lee replied, "Maintaining employment is a fundamental role of public enterprises," and said, "Even if profits are low, they contribute to society by maintaining employment."

Chairman Lee said, "As income polarization worsens and people become poorer, populism runs rampant," and added, "Former U.S. President Trump and Philippine President Duterte are populists."

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