[The Editors' Verdict] 'My Side Politics' Makes Reform Impossible Even to Dream Of

[Asia Economy Jeong Doohwan, Content Manager] "It is an unpopular task, but we must not avoid it and must accomplish it."

This was the determination shown by President Yoon Seok-yeol during the ‘1st National Task Review Meeting’ held last week in the form of a ‘Dialogue with the People,’ where he declared the promotion of pension, labor, and education reform tasks.

The words naturally overlap with those of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun 15 years ago, right after the conclusion of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement. He said, "FTA is not a political or ideological issue but a matter of livelihood," and described it as "a decision made despite political losses." Although the topics differ, President Yoon’s dialogue with the people, which lasted over 160 minutes well beyond the scheduled time, also conveyed a sense of resolve.

However, looking across the river towards Yeouido, doubts arise as to whether the reform tasks President Yoon has set forth can even take their first proper step, let alone be completed within his term.

This is not simply because of the power structure of ‘minority ruling, majority opposition’ where the opposition party controls the parliament. The next year’s budget, which should have been passed by the end of last month to meet the legal deadline, is still stuck in the National Assembly due to futile disputes between the ruling and opposition parties. Despite the Speaker of the National Assembly’s scolding asking, "Do politicians have any conscience?" both sides keep blaming each other, holding the nation’s finances hostage and repeatedly engaging in political strife.

At the bottom of the budget debate lies the political philosophies of the ruling and opposition parties standing in opposition. This is not a simple confrontation at the level of ‘adjusting figures’ where compromise and concession can be easily expected.

What is worrisome is the political atmosphere where even the stage to discuss the discourse of ‘reform’ is hard to establish properly. The political clock is already set on April 2024, the general election. Both the opposition party, determined to retain parliamentary power at all costs, and the ruling party, aiming to avenge their defeat two years ago and reclaim their position as the de facto ruling party, are already fully focused on the general election 1 year and 4 months away.

In fact, considering the essence of politics and the current power structure, ‘cooperation’ was never realistically expected. To put it positively, the separation of administrative and legislative powers could check the unilateral rule of a particular power, but this is merely an idealistic theory from textbooks. Neither the opposition nor the ruling party seems to have the slightest intention of sharing the power they hold with the other. The advantages of the presidential system and the checks and balances through the separation of powers learned in textbooks are nowhere to be found.

Currently, our political sphere only shows an unsightly power struggle between legislative and executive powers. There is checking, but balance is missing. If the ruling and opposition parties continue to focus only on their own sides, discussions on reform tasks will only degenerate into a futile mudslinging fight.

Reform is an unavoidable task, even without the president’s words. For example, the health insurance system mentioned by President Yoon is projected to have a cumulative deficit of 678 trillion won by 2040. The National Pension Fund, a safety net for the people’s old age, is warned to turn into deficit by 2042 due to a rapid increase in beneficiaries and to be depleted by 2057. Meanwhile, national debt has surpassed 1,000 trillion won. With economic vitality declining, bleak forecasts predict next year’s growth rate to plunge to the 1% range.

Disappointment in politics is nothing new. However, the people will not tolerate politics holding back the economy and the nation’s future. Now is the time for real politics to fear the will of the people.

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