"Yoon Government's Decoupling from China Policy Accelerates South Korea's Economic Crisis... Northern Economy Territory Must Be Strengthened"

"Professor Kim Hyun-chul: The Next Government Must Open the Way to Larger Markets"
"Economic Uncertainty Should Be Resolved Quickly by Concluding the Impeachment Situation"

The opposition party has diagnosed that the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's de-China policy, which abandoned the northern economic territory, has accelerated the crisis of the Korean economy. They pointed out the need to adjust the investment policy overly concentrated on the United States and strengthen competitiveness against China, the world's largest lost consumer market. Above all, they emphasized the need to swiftly conclude the impeachment situation to resolve economic uncertainties.

Professor Kim Hyun-chul of Seoul National University's Graduate School of International Studies analyzed at the "Economy is the Democratic Party" seminar held on the morning of the 14th at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul, "Due to the (Yoon administration's) de-China policy, our leading companies lost the time to widen the super-gap," adding, "For about three years, companies hesitated (in investment, etc.) and missed the timing to fully develop China as a consumer market."

It is diagnosed that the Yoon administration's stimulation of anti-China sentiment inevitably caused setbacks in Korea-China diplomacy. In fact, the proportion of exports to China has continuously decreased since 2020, and this export crisis has transitioned into a domestic demand crisis. According to Statistics Korea, the domestic retail sales index rose by 6.6% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2021 but recorded a negative (-) 2.9% in the fourth quarter of last year.

Professor Kim emphasized that the economic policy overly concentrated on the United States should be balanced with the northern economy, including China. He said, "It is absolutely not to say that we should not invest in the United States. The U.S. is also our main market, so we must invest," adding, "However, because of excessive investment in the U.S., we were eventually exposed to the Trump risk. Companies already know this very well."

Former lawmaker Hong Seong-guk is giving a lecture at the 'Economy is the Democratic Party' seminar held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 14th. (Photo by Lee Dong-woo)

For example, "Even Samsung Electronics originally planned to invest in Texas during the Biden administration but stopped completely as the possibility of Trump's election increased," and "Hyundai Motor also originally planned to invest heavily in electric vehicles but stopped and is instead switching electric vehicles to hybrids." He diagnosed, "The speed and volume of over-investment should be reduced, and when the Trump administration came out, companies would invest more during the negotiation process."

As a measure to overcome the Korean economic crisis, he emphasized that the northern economic territory should be strengthened in the next government. Professor Kim explained, "Over the past 30 years, we pioneered the Russian market and even achieved the number one market share in fields like mobile phones and automobiles. Currently, China dominates the market." He added, "The next government should open the way to recover market share in the Russian market and allow not only large corporations but also our small and medium-sized enterprises in food, cosmetics, and other sectors to pioneer larger markets through entry into China."

Furthermore, to resolve economic uncertainties in the shortest time, he stated that the Constitutional Court's decision on President Yoon's impeachment should be made swiftly. Former Democratic Party lawmaker Hong Seong-guk, who participated that day, said, "This year's economic growth forecast is lowering to the mid-1% range," adding, "We must overcome the crisis through swift impeachment. If delayed, recovery may become impossible."

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