[The Editors' Verdict] Call for a Reform Alliance, Not an Anti-Moon Coalition

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, criticized the Moon Jae-in administration for destroying jobs. As an alternative, he said the government would support companies in creating jobs and help young people start ventures. However, Yoon’s criticism and alternatives seem lukewarm and miss the core issue compared to the severity of the problem. This is because the privileges of labor unions, which had been strengthened even before the Moon administration, reduced jobs and increased irregular workers. The claim that the government will solve the job problem by strengthening support is also nothing new. The reason companies do not increase employment is due to labor politics where even the government has to consider the National Democratic Labor Union (Minju-nochong). Young people’s venture startups will also find it difficult to succeed unless labor laws, which make it hard to change rigid working hours and conditions, are reformed. Since concentrated work, manpower input, and organizational restructuring due to environmental changes are essential, labor laws become obstacles.

Yoon’s vague stance is hindering the expansion of his votes. Various opinion polls show this. The 2030 generation, which suffers the most from job difficulties, was the biggest supporter of the Moon administration but turned to disappointment, yet they hesitate to support Yoon. The reason Moon’s job policy failed lies in anti-reform policies that made the labor market unfair. When he declared himself the “Job President” and announced zero irregular workers in the public sector, the 2030 generation cheered in expectation of reform, but the opposite happened. Jobs in large companies dried up, and the hardship of irregular workers increased. To soothe dissatisfaction, the government recklessly increased spending and only increased short-term public part-time jobs. Irregular workers worked anxiously, hoping to become regular workers, while regular workers who were union members enjoyed reduced working hours, increased wages, and could be lazy without consequences.

Korea is divided into irregular workers who are scheduled to be fired and regular unionized workers who have no worries about dismissal. In such a situation, no matter how much the government expands its budget, employment will not improve. For the 2030 generation trapped in the irregular worker’s snare, deficit spending looks like passing on debt, and tax increases seem like fiscal waste. For job policies to succeed, fair systems are more important than government support. For Yoon to win the election and become a successful president, he must promise institutional reforms that consider the 2030 generation. The 2030 generation, losing hope due to contradictions created by unfairness, will become the casting vote in a tight election and a key pillar for regime stability. However, judging from Yoon’s actions and conversations, he seems to focus on the anti-Moon coalition opposing the Moon administration, and his will for reforms to create fair systems appears weak.

Yoon must say he will establish the rule of law and completely change the government’s support methods. Especially, the 2030 generation is waiting to hear that he will change the unfair rules of wage and employment decisions and strengthen the social responsibility of labor unions. They also want to hear that the education system will shift from entrance exam-centered to employment-centered, and the welfare system will shift from cash-centered to job-centered. As Yuval Harari, professor of history at Hebrew University and author of Sapiens, said, politics is about making the public believe and cooperate with an imagined order. Yoon must go beyond being a symbol of anti-Moon sentiment and shout the spirit of the times as a symbol of political transformation.

If reforms are not made, Korea will be left behind. Due to the Moon administration’s anti-reform policies, the engine of economic growth has cooled, and fiscal addiction is rapidly increasing the tax burden on the people. The essence of the anti-Moon coalition is the alliance of reform forces. The people, including the 2030 generation, hope that Yoon will become the leader of the reform alliance to create a fair country without privileges and unite the people as a leader who guides the imagined order.

Kim Tae-gi, Professor of Economics, Dankook University

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