President Yoon Suk-yeol urged bipartisan support for reform in pension fund, labor and education on Monday, highlighting that unless immediate action is taken, they would threaten sustainability of our society.
“The crisis and obstacles that we face home and abroad would be difficult to overcome unless we tackle the reforms that we’ve delayed so far,” said Yoon in an administration address to the National Assembly highlighting the rationale for a supplementary budget. In particular, he stressed the need for public pension reform for sustainability, labor reform for job creation, educational reform that meets technological advance. “We can no longer afford to delay them any longer. Bipartisan approach from the National Assembly is vital for us to address them together,” he said.
Yoon’s address was made to urge expedited passage of the 5.94 trillion won supplementary budget which includes compensation for losses due to COVID-19. His message, however, focused on the importance of collaboration. He used the word ‘crisis’ nine times during his speech and urged for bipartisan cooperation. “True democracy is based on parliamentarism. I will work closely with parliamentary leaders and members on key national agenda,” he promised. President Yoon wore a blue tie, the color of the Democratic Party, for the occasion and shook hands individually with every Democratic Party member after delivering the address.
Kwan-Seok Jang jks@donga.com
