Moon Administration's 'Longest-Serving Economic Chief' Hong Nam-ki Says "Regretful About Jobs and Real Estate"

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Strategy and Finance [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, reflected on the economic achievements of the Moon Jae-in administration over the past four years and expressed regret on the 9th, saying, "There were areas where results did not meet expectations, such as limited quality job creation, worsening population decline and low birthrate, and persistent regulatory barriers."

On the 9th, ahead of the 4th anniversary of the Moon Jae-in administration's launch, Deputy Prime Minister Hong posted on his social media (SNS), "Job and distribution indicators, which had steadily improved, showed a slowdown in improvement due to the COVID-19 crisis." He added, "Although the number of employed persons turned positive in March, difficulties in livelihoods such as small business owners, employment, and inflation continue, so I am well aware of criticisms that the sense of improvement is not strong." This expressed regret over the employment performance of the Moon Jae-in administration, which had launched as a 'job government,' falling short of expectations.

Deputy Prime Minister Hong also cited 'real estate' as an area with insufficient achievements alongside jobs. He said, "The real estate market has barely stabilized through strenuous efforts, but due to the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) scandal and by-elections, some areas are showing signs of instability again, so we cannot lower our guard or concerns." He added, "We will take the public's criticism of our shortcomings seriously."

However, Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, "I hope people can have confidence in the recent resilience of our economy," and stated, "With growth exceeding market expectations consecutively in the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year, the GDP level before the COVID-19 crisis was surpassed earlier than expected during the first quarter."

In fact, exports from January to April this year reached $197.7 billion, setting a record high. Additionally, the economic sentiment index, which combines consumer and business sentiment, is recording its highest level since 2012. Regarding this, Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, "This rebound trend cannot be explained by the base effect alone," and added, "The government will make unwavering policy efforts throughout the remaining year to ensure that this strong rebound and rapid recovery continue and spread warmth throughout the entire economy."

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