Yoon needs to embrace opposition to implement pledges
Elated by the recent rebound in his approval rating, President Yoon Suk-yeol has geared up efforts to have brisker communications with the public. For starters, Yoon hosted a town hall meeting to discuss major national initiatives last Thursday. The meeting was designed to review the implementations of key policies since he took office in May and explore visions for the next year.
The 150-minute live video of the event featured briefings by relevant ministers in charge of three major issues ― pensions, labor and education ― with the theme of "economy, people's livelihood and vision and strategy in provincial era." Yoon and the ministers engaged in a question-and-answer session with some 100 public panelists.
It is the second time for Yoon to have a live-broadcast meeting since October when he convened an emergency economic meeting. The presidential office is set to hold a similar meeting early next year covering issues of foreign affairs, security and agriculture. Given this, such meetings presided over by the head of state will likely be the main format for briefing of the Yoon administration's policies to the people.
This new device came since the press doorstep meets on Yoon's way to work came to an end. Amid growing criticism for lack of communications channels since then, Yoon seems to have opted for the new format to facilitate contact with the public. It is encouraging that the meeting tackled major issues pertinent to the people's livelihood such as housing supply and health insurance coverage.
Despite such a positive aspect, however, the Yoon government's such endeavors would remain only a "show-off" event unless they are reinforced by feasible measures for implementation. Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyoo-hong announced the ministry would come with a plan for pension reform by next October with a focus on guaranteeing fairness and sustainability in pension operation.
In fact, the reform of the four major pensions including the national pension had been the most-touted priority in previous governments. Yet, such attempts ended in failure despite ambitious and flamboyant pledges. The Moon Jae-in government, in particular, remained inactive, wary of enormous repercussions and political burden. It is necessary for the administration and the National Assembly to join hands to extract a singular reform plan by April as they previously agreed.
Yoon vowed to speed up efforts to reform the labor market, describing it as "inevitable" for the nation's sustainable growth. As he put it, the envisioned reform in the labor market should not be postponed any longer. According to data released by the International Management Development (IMD), South Korea ranked 42nd among the 63 major countries in terms of labor market competitiveness.
Employment and Labor Minister Lee Jung-sik said in the meeting, "The laws and institutions in the labor market have failed to catch up with the rapidly changing situation." Most of the national agenda including the reform issues require legislation of related laws. This means the Yoon administration can make progress in its bid to enact the laws only when it secures support from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) which now holds 169 of the 299 Assembly seats.
Beyond brisk communications with the public, Yoon now needs to double down on soliciting cooperation from the DPK. In this vein, Yoon should learn a lesson from the case of Denmark which gave birth to a coalition government of liberal and conservative forces for the first time in 40 years. Though the leftist alliance took power, it chose the coalition toward designing a better future. The ultimate goal of the Yoon administration should be building a better nation based on cooperation beyond partisan differences.
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