Yoon Mentions "Future Generations" 7 Times: "National Debt 1,000 Trillion Won... Wasteful Spending Is Exploitation" (Comprehensive)

Presiding Over the State Council Meeting, 'Future Generations' Mentioned 7 Times
Wasteful Spending, Employment Succession, Jeonse Fraud, Drug Crimes
Young Generation's Support for Government Declines... 'MZ' Support Needed

President Yoon Suk-yeol stated on the 18th, "Passing on unbearable pain to future generations through reckless spending is exploitation of future generations." He emphasized that the burden caused by the increase in national debt will be fully borne by future generations and urged strict management of national debt through fiscal rules.

On the morning of the same day, President Yoon presided over a Cabinet meeting at the Yongsan Presidential Office, saying, "Strengthening fiscal soundness is essential for the sustainability of our community and future generations," and requested the National Assembly to discuss the fiscal rules bill submitted last year.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is delivering opening remarks at the 16th Cabinet Meeting held on the 18th at the Yongsan Presidential Office Building in Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

President Yoon expressed concern over the rapid increase in national debt. He pointed out, "According to the 2022 government settlement results, the national debt exceeded 1,000 trillion won for the first time," and added, "An additional 400 trillion won was added during the previous administration." He warned that the interest on the national debt alone is expected to exceed 100 trillion won over the next four years, including 25 trillion won this year, and that the burden caused by reckless spending will ultimately fall on future generations.

He then urged ministers of each department to clearly prioritize fiscal expenditures to prevent waste of taxpayers' money. President Yoon said, "Government spending should focus on essential national functions such as national defense and the rule of law, roles that complement market failures like protecting the vulnerable, and mid- to long-term national tasks such as building future growth engines," adding, "Indiscriminate cash handouts and populist giveaways must be firmly rejected."

Following up on the previous day, he again criticized employment inheritance. President Yoon stated, "Employment inheritance is an unjust vested interest inheritance that violates the spirit of our Constitution and deprives future generations of opportunities," and urged, "I ask related Cabinet members to do their best to eradicate vested interest inheritance that violates the Constitution."

This appears to be a follow-up to the recent first judicial action taken by the Ministry of Employment and Labor against those involved in employment inheritance. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Anyang branch of the Central Regional Employment and Labor Office filed charges on the 7th against the Korea Metal Workers' Union, affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), Kia Corporation, and its CEO for maintaining a clause that prioritized hiring children of union members, known as "employment inheritance."

President Yoon mentioned labor issues for two consecutive weeks at recent senior secretaries' meetings presided over by him. At the senior secretaries' meeting on the 10th, he instructed, "Since establishing the rule of law between labor and management is the most important area of labor reform, thoroughly consider legal measures against refusal to submit accounting data," and the day before, he said, "Employment inheritance that deprives future generations of opportunities must be eradicated."

It is also notable that President Yoon mentioned "future generations" a total of seven times during his opening remarks that day. When instructing the government to review measures against jeonse fraud and drug crimes, he repeatedly referred to "future generations." Regarding jeonse fraud, he requested, "Please check and recheck whether government measures are properly functioning on the ground, as the victims of these tragic incidents are also young future generations." Regarding drug crimes, he said, "What is most shocking is that drugs are widely distributed to youth, who are future generations," adding, "They are destroying the dreams and hopes of young people."

This reflects President Yoon's governance philosophy of not forgetting the issues the government must prioritize for future generations, but it also seems to take into account the recent decline in government approval ratings, especially among younger age groups. According to a public opinion poll conducted by Gallup Korea from the 11th to the 13th targeting 1,002 adults nationwide aged 18 and over (with a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level), approval ratings among those aged 18-28, in their 30s, and 40s were low. The "doing well" ratings were all in the 13-15% range, while the "doing poorly" ratings for those in their 30s and 40s exceeded 80%.

The Presidential Office stated that this was not targeting any specific generation but rather a reiteration of government principles. However, it is expected that efforts to appeal to the MZ generation will continue at the government level. This is because the labor time reform plan, which allows working up to 69 hours per week, is still facing difficulties, and strong support from younger generations is absolutely necessary in other reform areas such as pensions and education. The Presidential Office views the government's three major reforms as preparations for "future generations."

Meanwhile, the public opinion poll results used in the above article were randomly extracted from a wireless telephone RDD sample frame and conducted through telephone interviewer interviews. The response rate was 8.2%. Detailed information can be found on the Gallup Korea website or the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.

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