[Editorial] Moon reflects on S. Korea's "shameful self-portrait" of high suicide rates, poverty in old age

In the final budget speech of his term, Moon Jae-in reflected on the unresolved challenges his administration will pass on to his successor

President Moon Jae-in delivers a speech on the 2022 budget at the plenary chamber of the National Assembly on Monday. (pool photo)

South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivered a policy address to the National Assembly on Monday. Moon was there as the head of the government to explain next year’s budget, which the government submitted to the National Assembly.

The speech carried a gravity not felt in previous years with Moon now finishing out his final year in office. Moon explained the significance of his final budget, which was drawn up by his administration but will largely be implemented by the following one. Along the way, he addressed the successes and shortcomings of the policies pursued by his administration and conveyed his hope that the next administration will carry on his vision.

Notably, Moon rattled off a list of unresolved challenges, while remarking that “the extreme speed of our [economic] growth has cast a big shadow.”

Moon mentioned Korea’s low birth rate, elderly poverty rate, suicide rate, and work-related fatality rate — metrics on which the country ranks worst in the world — and said they’re part of “the Republic of Korea’s shameful self-portrait.” All those issues represent the cries of those who have been crushed under the wheels of a growth-driven ideology.

Korean society has long clamored for a resolution to those issues but has yet to achieve any tangible progress on what remain intractable challenges. “The real estate issue is still the most serious livelihood issue and something on which reform is needed. Other issues that remain unresolved are the concentration [of people and resources] around the greater Seoul area and the regional imbalance,” Moon said.

Insecurity over housing prices has grown much worse during the Moon administration.

While it was not mentioned specifically in Moon’s speech, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the dark sides of Korea’s growth even darker. The acceleration of the digital economy has created globe-spanning platform monopolies and disclosed the disturbing underbelly of IT innovation. The government expanded liquidity and kept interest rates extremely low to soften the blow of the pandemic, but that only exacerbated wealth inequality.

Moon said the obstacles to unity in Korean society are unfairness, discrimination, and exclusion. But the inequality that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis won’t be easy to resolve even if COVID-19 itself can be defeated. We must search actively for creative solutions oriented toward fairness and justice that will bring hope to future generations.

A dark shadow is being cast over humanity today by the climate crisis, which threatens our very survival. Moon said that “turning this serious challenge into another opportunity is a national mission,” but Korea has only now drafted a basic plan for carbon neutrality. If we procrastinate to avoid short-term pain, we may face an even greater burden in the future. We need to get on board with the campaign to reach carbon neutrality.

There are now just six months left in Moon’s presidency. These challenges will be handed over to Korea’s next president, who will be elected in March 2022. Each political party may have its own priorities and seek distinct solutions, but Korean society can’t avoid the problems confronting it.

We hope that the presidential campaign will quickly return to a normal forum for debating how to resolve these problems and competing over who can offer the best solutions.

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