Opposition Presidential Candidates Promise 'Painful Reforms' Instead of Sweet Promises

Yoo Seung-min "National Pension Must Be Reformed Before It's Too Late"
Yoon Hee-sook "Allow Alternative Work to Confront Privileged Unions"
Won Hee-ryong "Will Not Cover Up Mistakes, Claiming the Cause of Integration"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Opposition candidates preparing for next year's presidential election are emphasizing 'painful reforms' instead of 'sweet promises.'

Yoo Seung-min, a former lawmaker and presidential candidate from the People Power Party, said in a phone interview with this paper on the 22nd, "The Moon Jae-in administration has ignored painful reforms and instead carried out sweet reforms such as increasing welfare by borrowing," adding, "The next president must undertake reforms of the National Pension Service and others."

Former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

Yoo pointed out, "The Park Geun-hye administration reformed the government employee pension, but did not touch the National Pension Service, and the Lee Myung-bak and Moon Jae-in administrations did not even attempt it," adding, "The last time the National Pension Service was partially reformed was 14 years ago during the Roh Moo-hyun administration." He explained that the structure of the National Pension Service reform becomes impossible the longer it is delayed, so the reform must be done before it requires a bigger operation. Regarding specific reform methods, he said, "It is necessary to delay the start of benefits by extending the retirement age, raise (National Pension) premiums, or inject taxes in advance." Yoo acknowledged, "It will be a painful process," but added, "Ultimately, since this is a problem our sons and daughters will face, we have no choice but to persuade the public by emphasizing this point."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Yoon Hee-sook, a lawmaker who has thrown her hat into the presidential race, is also voicing calls for reforms such as tackling privileged labor unions. At a lecture for the People Power Party's first-term lawmakers' group ‘Myeongbulheojeon Bosuda’ the day before, Yoon said, "Strong labor unions continue selfish wage struggles," and argued, "We need to introduce regulations allowing substitute labor to change the tilted playing field in labor-management relations." At the event, Yoon also criticized Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's basic income policy, saying, "We are a party without money. We do not hold the keys to the treasury," and added, "The moment we fight with those people (the ruling party) over money, it is a game we will lose 100%."

Won Hee-ryong, Governor of Jeju Province. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Won Hee-ryong, Governor of Jeju Province, who has declared his intention to run for president, advocated for clearing the current administration rather than politically convenient ‘unity.’ Through social media, Won stated, "I will not cover up mistakes under the pretext of ‘unity’ born from fatigue of conflict," and insisted, "Clearing up comes first."

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