President Yoon Only Invited His Supporters to Publicize the Legitimacy of Reforms

Shaking Hands with First Lady Kim Keon-hee: President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee greet participants after a meeting on reforms in three major areas--labor, education, and the national pension--with over 200 young people at the state guest house in Cheongwadae on December 20. Courtesy of the Office of the President

President Yoon Suk-yeol met with young people on December 20 and announced that among the three major reforms in labor, education and the national pension, labor reforms came first. The latest event appeared to be the president’s attempt to rally support among young people. The event was referred to as a meeting with young people, but it drew criticism for lopsided communication since only the president’s young supporters, such as the Youth Solidarity for Freedom, were invited.

President Yoon met with over 200 young people at the state guest house in Cheongwadae and sought their support for “reasonable and humane labor reforms that respected labor,” according to Lee Jae-myoung (Jae-myung), deputy spokesperson for the Office of the President.

The topic of the talks was the three major reforms in labor, education and the national pension. President Yoon stressed labor reforms as a priority and stated the four factors of flexibility, fairness, safety, and legal stability as his principles in labor reforms. As for flexibility, the president said, “Our labor system must adapt flexibly to the changing times.” He has called for extending working hours to up to 52 hours a week depending on the industry and business. The president explained his position on legal stability and said, “The rule of law must be established in labor-management issues.” He further said, “Such rule of law will create a structure that not only enables responses to the illegal activities of major labor unions, but also allows workers to work in a comfortable and pleasant environment.” He seemed to be referring to the recent general strike by the Cargo Truckers Solidarity, a branch of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union, an affiliate of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.

President Yoon continued and said, “I cannot change everything during my term in office.” “The most important thing is to do our utmost so as not to retreat on reform tasks and for you to further develop and complete the rest of the reforms,” he said.

Young aides who worked in President Yoon’s election campaign and members of the Youth Solidarity for Freedom took part in the meeting. First lady Kim Keon-hee was also present. Kang Seung-kyu, senior secretary to the president for civil and social agenda, wrote on social media, “The young people claimed that fairness and reason collapsed with the Incheon International Airport incident in the previous government. They said that the people have called on the Yoon Suk-yeol government and declared that the Youth Solidarity for Freedom would lead efforts to correct them (past mistakes).” He also wrote, “The Youth Solidarity for Freedom will be a partner in state administration at the forefront in promoting the three major reforms.” The latest event was more intended to promote the legitimacy of reforms among young supporters rather than to listen to the opinions of young people in general.

President Yoon announced that he would expand the scope of participation of young people in state administration. He promised again to expand internships for young people and asked them “to actively participate (in the internships) and contribute to designing the future of the country,” according to the deputy spokesperson.