Government’s capricious policies distress people[Editorial]

President Yoon Seok-yeol speaks on the phone with Singapore\'s new Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Tuesday. Courtesy of the Office of the President

The Yoon Suk-yeol government's capricious policies are crossing the line. The government's policies are changing frequently, and announcements and statements about major policies are being reversed every day.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport and the National Police Agency said on May 20 that they were considering introducing “conditional driver's licenses” for the elderly, but then changed their minds. The conditional license system allows the elderly to get licenses with conditions, such as no driving at night and on highways, and speed limits. Although it is said to be necessary in the era of an aging population, it has been criticized for excessively restricting the mobility rights of the elderly. There is also a problem of applying the standards uniformly, and there is no good alternative in areas without public transportation. Then, the government backed down the next day, saying, “The conditional driver's license is not a system that targets a specific age group.”

On the 22nd, the policy of resuming short selling, which was announced by Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) chief Lee Bok-hyun, was scrapped. Short selling is an investment technique that involves borrowing and selling shares in anticipation of a stock price decline. It was temporarily banned to protect individual investors, but it is contrary to “global standards.” “My personal ambition or plan is to partly resume short selling in June,” Lee has recently told reporters in New York. Initially, the government also planned to implement the ban by the first half of this year. However, an official from the presidential office told the media on the same day, “There is no change in the position on short selling,” adding, “If the system is not in place, we will not resume it.” It is hard to know what the exact stance of the government is.

As is well known, on the 19th, the policy of mandatory safety certification for overseas direct purchase products was reversed. In three days, the government has withdrawn its plan to ban direct overseas purchase products without the KC certification mark. It is said that some of the 14 ministries that participated in the task force on comprehensive measures against overseas direct purchases only realized the policy to require the KC certification mark on the day it was announced. Furthermore, the presidential office handed over the responsibility, claiming that it did not know because it did not participate in the task force.

The people have been sickened by the Yoon government's impromptu and hasty way of managing the country, including the reduction of research and development budgets, changing working hours up to 69 hours a week, and increasing the number of medical school admissions by 2,000. The lack of discipline among public officials is also serious. No one has been reprimanded or held accountable for such a national crisis. The country is a mess. I am worried and afraid that a major accident may occur.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.