Policy Planning Committee, Moon Administration's Democracy 'Jiphyeon Forum'..."Democracy in My Life"

Mention of Moon Jae-in Government's Prosecutorial Reform Achievements
Need for Enactment of Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Law and Media Reform Law Presented

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] A forum focusing on analyzing the achievements and challenges of democracy under the Moon Jae-in administration was held.

The Presidential Policy Planning Committee hosted the '7th Korea New Deal Republic Jiphyeon Forum' on the 15th at the main auditorium of the Korea Institute of Public Administration in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. It was co-hosted with the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences and organized by the Korea Institute of Public Administration.

The Policy Planning Committee stated, "The Moon Jae-in government, born from the historic Candlelight Revolution, upgraded Korean democracy through reforms of power institutions, but Korean democracy still faces many challenges," adding, "This forum was prepared as a platform to discuss how Korean politics should change and how democracy should evolve."

The Jiphyeon Forum was designed as a public discourse platform to gather wisdom on major issues of the Korea New Deal, a national grand innovation strategy.

In the first presentation titled 'The Evolution of Korean Democracy: Institutionalization of the Candlelight Movement and the Dawn of the Era of Citizen Sovereignty,' Professor Jeong Sang-ho of Seowon University emphasized the need to consider introducing national referendum, national initiative, and national recall systems, legislating the national petition system and expanding it to local governments, and institutionalizing deliberative democracy by establishing the National Public Deliberation Committee. He also stressed the necessity of enacting three major legislations for a mature civil society: the Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Act, the Democratic Citizenship Education Support Act, and the Media Reform Act.

In the presentation 'Innovation of the Democratic Republic: Democratization of Power Institutions,' Professor Lee Guk-woon of Handong University examined the history of criminal justice divided into nationalist reform attempts and failures, democratization and the advent of prosecutorial governance, and the inevitability and limits of liberal reforms. He highlighted that the achievements of prosecutorial reform under the Moon Jae-in government have increased the practical suitability of direct elections for chief prosecutors.

Additionally, Professor Lim Do-bin of Seoul National University explained the direction and principles of new government organization reforms under the theme 'Government Organization Reform and Democratic Bureaucratic Control,' proposing alternatives for the composition of central government organizations. He also suggested the necessity of democratic control over bureaucrats in government operations.

In the fourth presentation titled 'The Crisis and Reflection of American-style Liberal Democracy: Overcoming Political Polarization and Populism,' Professor Ha Sang-eung of Sogang University stated that resolving economic inequality is crucial to overcoming polarization and populism, and that identity issues should be made a major agenda in politics to alleviate exclusive attitudes toward others and out-groups.

The panel discussion was chaired by Professor Kim Sun-hyuk of Korea University and included the four presenters along with Professor Kim Sun-nam of Wonkwang University, Professor Lim Ji-bong of Sogang University, Editorial Writer Jung Nam-gu of Hankyoreh Newspaper, and Associate Research Fellow Hong Seung-heon of the Korea Institute of Public Administration.

Jo Dae-yeop, Chairman of the Policy Planning Committee, emphasized, "The Candlelight Revolution that launched the Moon Jae-in government was itself the evolution of Korean democracy," adding, "Our democracy must not be completed by institutions alone but must be reborn as 'democracy of my life' and 'democracy of cooperation' that protects life, enriches life, and enables self-realization within life. Furthermore, it must evolve into 'democracy of responsibility.'” He continued, "Since democracy is a matter of socioeconomic life, evolving democracy is evolving our lives, and making this evolved democracy the people's share is also the role of politics."

This forum was conducted with thorough quarantine measures and minimized attendance at the venue, and the event was broadcast live in real time through the Policy Planning Committee’s social networking services (SNS).

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