Let's replace exclusion and hostility with an embrace and harmony
People greet the New Year with hopes, expectations and resolutions, although they know all these aims will probably prove futile a year on.
Unfortunately, even those things appear cumbersome this year, however. The global political horizon is so uncertain that some historians compare today to the 1940s when superpowers readied themselves for a major conflict. The economy cannot be good worldwide, then.
The domestic situation appears similar, or even worse, than that abroad.
South Koreans had to spend the last few days of 2022 with utter anxiety and restlessness as the two Koreas vied to launch "projectiles." North Korea's drone provocations days earlier triggered the South to abruptly send a vehicle into space in a game of one-upmanship. Seoul was in such a hurry that it didn't inform people about the "secret project" in advance, annoying and frightening many ordinary citizens.
The shakier international political circumstances become, the more trust the two Koreas should build and possess in each other. Otherwise, the Korean Peninsula will become the arena of a proxy war ― yet again ― even before South Koreans realize it. This is no time for South and North Korea to compete to help Ukraine and Russia. The North must stop provocations, and the South should refrain from belated overreactions but instead, calmly seek a breakthrough in the deadlocked ties.
On the domestic front, President Yoon Suk-yeol is set to initiate his Three Reforms initiative ― labor, pensions and education ― in 2023, despite the dark economic outlook. There is social consensus on the latter two. However, it has been challenging to reform the labor market even at the best of economic times because of conflicts in various strata of society. Moreover, President Yoon and his aides plan to tackle this demanding job by antagonizing, or almost demonizing unionized workers instead of negotiating with them.
The president is right to try to rectify the Korean labor market's dual structure. For instance, workers at large business groups get more than double the wages of their counterparts in smaller firms doing similar jobs.
However, the government must determine and correct employers' practices instead of driving them into a labor-labor conflict. Just think: what's wrong if the primary breadwinner of a four-member family receives 100 million won (about $80,000) or a little more a year when the nation's per capita income is $35,000? Yoon vows to increase it to $40,000 by 2027. The problem lies with employers who try to give less than half under the pretext of "longer-term future investment." In the long term, however, we all die. Workers, not capitalists, need protection, especially in difficult economic times like now.
If the Yoon government cares about the livelihood of ordinary people, it must do two things sooner rather than later.
First, it should do more to protect the environment. According to global agencies, Korea's Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) is 57th among 60 countries. If Korea does nothing about it, its businesses will face various sanctions abroad, finding it increasingly difficult to operate normally. That will hamper the Yoon administration's job creation efforts.
Second, it must handle China carefully. The government was right to make it clear that its new Indo-Pacific strategy will not alienate specific countries, a.k.a. China. However, it will be easier said than done if the U.S. and Japan drive Korea in that direction. China's economic retaliation will affect many Korean companies.
People always want two things most ― to feel full and secure. The government must guarantee peace by finding a basis for trust in the inter-Korean relationship. It then should focus on narrowing the gaps in the disparity of workers' income.
In doing so, Yoon must embrace his counterparts, be they North Koreans or unionized workers, instead of excluding them, and seek harmony, not hostility. Smooth communication is quintessential for dialogue and persuasion. The President's reported decision to replace the New Year's news conference with a policy statement is regrettable because communication should be a two-way thing.
Yoon must hold one as soon as possible.
