Opposition leader blames Yoon for security, economic ‘crises’
Lee calls for more peace efforts with NK, expanded state role to improve lives
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), blamed President Yoon Suk Yeol for what he described as the country’s security, economic, demographic and democratic crises on Wednesday, claiming that Yoon’s “dogmatic” leadership and “incompetence” resulted in the problems.
At his first press conference this year, ahead of the general elections coming up in April, Lee focused mainly on criticizing Yoon, while calling for restoring communication with North Korea and expanding the state’s role in dealing with economic and other issues.
He accused Yoon, who was inaugurated in May 2022, of devoting his time in office so far to “killing his political enemies,” saying his party would help overcome those crises with better policies after winning the legislative elections.
“South Korea’s economy, once applauded by the world, is crumbling. A war crisis is looming. We now should be concerned about the country’s sustainability amid the falling population. Our democracy, once regarded as the best in Asia, is under going destruction,” Lee told reporters.
“What is more serious than the crises themselves is that they were created by the government, which is supposed to sort them out.”
He called for the Yoon administration to step up efforts to minimize the risk of war with the North, which recently announced that it officially abandoned its long-held unification policy.
“In this game of chicken, where both South and North Korea refuse to back down, there is no buffer. Military tensions and risks benefit neither the South nor the North,” he said. “Our innocent citizens and young people should never be the victims of armed clashes that could have been avoided.”
The first thing the administration should do is to restore the inter-Korean hotline, to which the North has remained unresponsive for nearly a year, he said.
The nation’s chronically low birthrate is another issue highlighted there.
With the national fertility rate — the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime — estimated to drop further in 2023 from 0.78 the previous year, Lee called for a drastic increase in financial support, including direct cash subsidies for all newborns regardless of their parents’ incomes.
“Through a comprehensive policy package that covers marriage, childbirth and day care, the state should directly provide basic finances to all newborns and strengthen its support for housing, having children and day care. In addition, we want to suggest the policy of ‘basic incomes for newborns,’” Lee said.
“The state should also consider expanding support in educational expenses, including all college tuition fees, if necessary.”
As for the economy, Lee said his party would be more proactive and creative in supporting startups. One idea he mentioned was to enable financial institutions to invest in them more easily through system reforms.
Lee also said one of the DPK’s policy priorities would be renewable energy. He criticized the administration for being too slow in the country’s green transition and promised to continue to help create a better industrial environment for the change.
He defined Election Day as the “day to regain the Korean vision” lost under Yoon, calling for more support from voters. But given that his party already holds a sizable majority in the National Assembly, it remains to be seen whether they would be convinced by his message.