Will President Moon win another term of office?

By Publisher Lee Kyung-sik with Feature Editor Ms. Joy Cho

There are signs showing the possibility that President Moon Jae-in might have now turned his attention to take ‘better care’ of the Korean business world, which many Koreans have somewhat viewed with a sense of reservation.

President Moon, himself hailing from a common family, has been viewed as being somewhat inclined to have a ‘proletarian’ tendency.

However with a landslide won by his Democratic Party, a total of 180 seats, vis-s-vis 103 won by the main opposition United Future Party, President Moon now appears to have full confidence in his ability to ambitiously carry out all the policies he had had in mind to “make the Korean people live happily.”

Why did the conservative parties suffer such a humiliating defeat?

For one thing, the camp is largely divided by reform-minded conservatives and the followers of the former governments such as former Presidents Park Geun-hye (now in jail) and Lee Myung-bak who is not completely free from charges of amassing of wealth through means that were not ‘honest.’

The so-called clean-minded political leaders such as former chairman Kim Byong-joon of who, in the opinion of many people, stood the best chance of beating the progressives and other reform-included politicians reported does not have a sufficient support group in the conservative political camp.

Ahn Chul-soo is gaining a momentum and is viewed to stand a good chance of his People’s Party winning more support with the passage of time.

Most recently, however, reports indicate that incumbent Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-ryol and former Publisher Ryan Jeong-wook Hong of The Herald Media are rapidly gaining popularity as conservative candidates for the next Presidential elections.

All the same, on the hypothesis that President Moon Jae-in would continuously run the government in a direction where he would shift to the centrist line between the left- and right-wing political groups, he is viewed to stand a good chance of winning again in the next elections.

Presently, the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Korea limits the Presidency to a single term, but there are movements showing the possibility that the overwhelmingly large ruling camp might seek the extension of the Presidency to one more term.

Provided the ruling camp should fail to carry out a Constitutional change to make possible the second term of office for President Moon, the best chance for the Presidential candidate from the ruling camp to win the election is viewed to former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon.

Lee continues to win high marks in many opinion polls on the next President of the Republic of Korea.

Here are excerpts from a speech made by President Moon at a meeting with business leaders from key industries on May 21, 2020:

Remarks by President Moon to Korean business leaders:

I am glad to meet you all. As everyone knows, our industries and jobs are all in a crisis situation. The slowdown of the real economy and employment crisis are spilling over to the manufacturing industry, going beyond service industries.

Today, we have brought together representatives from business associations and business leaders from nine key industries – airlines, shipping, machinery, automobiles, shipbuilding, oil refining, petrochemicals, steel and textiles – to discuss how to overcome these crises.

I hope that this meeting will serve as an opportunity for the private and public sectors to come together to surmount the crises and create a platform for growth, thus bringing hope to the people.

Recently, the airline and shipping industries have been directly hit by global border closures and restrictions on movements, and shipbuilding orders have also plunged. In addition, the automobile industry is in a very difficult situation because of decreased market demand in North America and Europe as well as disruptions in overseas production.

Work orders for the textile industry have also sharply declined since more than 80 percent of fashion companies in the United States and Europe have gone out of businesses.

The downturn of the automobile and shipbuilding industries has led to hardships in such downstream industries as machinery, petrochemicals, steel and oil refining, and export markets are not in a normal state either. Large businesses’ production setbacks and the drop in received orders have scaled back work orders for small and mid-size suppliers, and the damage is even worse for second- and third-tier suppliers.

Cooperation – not only between the Government and business community but between different industries, large businesses and SMEs and labor and management – is desperately needed. With an exceptional resolve to safeguard the “industrial ecosystem” in its entirety, we must protect jobs as well as revive our industries and economy without fail.

Through five rounds of Emergency Economic Council meetings, the Government made the extraordinary decision to inject 245 trillion won – 13 percent of our country’s GDP – into overcoming this economic crisis, and it is also preparing a third supplementary budget. In particular, the Government raised a key industry stabilization fund worth 40 trillion won as a move to swiftly provide assistance for the airline, shipping and other key industries which are facing difficulties. It is also providing support to SMEs and microbusiness owners through a 140-trillion-won package program to stabilize people’s livelihoods and finances.

In addition, in order to promote employment security, requirements related to subsidies for retaining jobs and providing unpaid leave have been eased, and the scope of businesses eligible for special employment support has been expanded. Through the 10-trillion-won job security package, we will provide employment support for the vulnerable and young people. Among other things, the Government will quickly implement the Korean version of the New Deal. We’ll put all our efforts into recovering the economy, securing future competitiveness, protecting jobs and expanding the employment safety net.

The digital economy age, which has been accelerated due to COVID-19, requires bolder and faster changes. The airline and shipping industries are utilizing data to enhance competitiveness in their passenger and logistics services. Textile factories, steel mills and shipyards are using big data and artificial intelligence technologies to manage production processes and quality.

Oil refineries are working on electric car charging and payment data systems while petrochemical producers have embarked on developing advanced materials. The machinery and automobile industries are responding swiftly to the development of unmanned automation at construction sites and the mobility service market, respectively.

its part, the Government will strive to nurture future technology professionals while supporting Korean companies’ efforts to innovate. We are expediting the training of experts in such new industrial areas as artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain technology, future cars, drones, intelligent robots, smart ships and biomedicine. We will provide support for joint research with world-class universities, research institutions and companies in order to increase R&D capabilities. When more chances are given to young adults who try to turn changes into opportunities and take on new challenges, the competitiveness of companies and the country will rise. I hope that more of the talented individuals needed for businesses are nurtured so that the key capabilities of the digital economy will be strengthened.

We have built a new future while overcoming crises. During the 1997 foreign exchange crisis, we cultivated our IT industry, and we fostered the green industry during the global economic crisis. I am confident that if businesses, the Government and the people all join forces, we will be able to surmount the industrial crisis caused by COVID-19 and be reborn as a powerhouse in an era of the digital economy.

I ask you to have a strong resolve to be the first to overcome the crises linked to infectious disease prevention and control and the economy and take the lead in the post-COVID-19 era.

 

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