President should reflect on policy failures
President Moon Jae-in's last New Year speech as the country's chief executive was full of self-praise and too much optimism. This has stoked cynicism that Moon is simply out of touch with reality. In his televised speech Monday, Moon focused on highlighting his administration's achievements related to the COVID-19 pandemic, economic recovery, democratic progress, and inter-Korean relations. Yet he made no mention of policy failures.
It is disappointing to see the President trying to ignore the harsh reality that people have been suffering difficulties due mainly to ill-conceived policies over the last four-and-a-half years. He should have reflected on his mistakes so that he can come up with better policy measures to improve people's living standards.
Moon was unable to present new policy options to bring hope and prosperity to the nation. Of course, he has little room to maneuver as he has only four months before his term ends in May. Yet he will not find a solution to a set of problems the country faces by heaping praise on himself and painting an extremely rosy picture of the future.
Moon said South Korea has become the most successful country in the world during the past 70 years. "It is the only country which has seen its status elevated to a developed country from a developing country since World War II," he added. As he said, no one can deny or belittle such an achievement.
But he fell far short of presenting concrete and immediate plans to help the country emerge from the difficult situation it faces. As for the pandemic, he argued that the country's COVID-19 restrictions and quarantine measures have proven to be "superior" compared to those of other countries. He only expressed his hope that 2022 will be the first year of a return to normal life, without offering a detailed action plan.
President Moon has refused to admit to his policy blunders that led to a spike in daily new infections last month due to the premature lifting of restrictions under the "Living with COVID-19" strategy. It would be better for him to apologize for his government's mistake before it is too late.
Moon was also slammed for being complacent about the economy. He said Korea posted the highest average economic growth rate among advanced countries in the past two years. He seemed to forget many downside risks such as raging inflation and global supply chain bottlenecks. He also claimed that the nation's income inequality and social polarization were being alleviated. But in fact, the income and wealth disparity have widened due to the pandemic.
More seriously, the President was trying to legitimize his reckless push for prosecutorial reform by lauding it as an achievement to realize checks and balances to prevent the abuse of power. He should not turn a deaf ear to public backlash against the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), a new investigative body created under Moon's reform plan, which collected phone records of an opposition party presidential candidate, lawmakers and citizens apparently for surveillance.
Moon's top priority for this year is to defeat the pandemic and ensure a free and fair competition for the March 9 presidential election. His government also should go all out to speed up economic recovery and stabilize the overheated housing market. Most of all, it must urgently promote social cohesion and national unity.
President Moon Jae-in's last New Year speech as the country's chief executive was full of self-praise and too much optimism. This has stoked cynicism that Moon is simply out of touch with reality. In his televised speech Monday, Moon focused on highlighting his administration's achievements related to the COVID-19 pandemic, economic recovery, democratic progress, and inter-Korean relations. Yet he made no mention of policy failures.
It is disappointing to see the President trying to ignore the harsh reality that people have been suffering difficulties due mainly to ill-conceived policies over the last four-and-a-half years. He should have reflected on his mistakes so that he can come up with better policy measures to improve people's living standards.
Moon was unable to present new policy options to bring hope and prosperity to the nation. Of course, he has little room to maneuver as he has only four months before his term ends in May. Yet he will not find a solution to a set of problems the country faces by heaping praise on himself and painting an extremely rosy picture of the future.
Moon said South Korea has become the most successful country in the world during the past 70 years. "It is the only country which has seen its status elevated to a developed country from a developing country since World War II," he added. As he said, no one can deny or belittle such an achievement.
But he fell far short of presenting concrete and immediate plans to help the country emerge from the difficult situation it faces. As for the pandemic, he argued that the country's COVID-19 restrictions and quarantine measures have proven to be "superior" compared to those of other countries. He only expressed his hope that 2022 will be the first year of a return to normal life, without offering a detailed action plan.
President Moon has refused to admit to his policy blunders that led to a spike in daily new infections last month due to the premature lifting of restrictions under the "Living with COVID-19" strategy. It would be better for him to apologize for his government's mistake before it is too late.
Moon was also slammed for being complacent about the economy. He said Korea posted the highest average economic growth rate among advanced countries in the past two years. He seemed to forget many downside risks such as raging inflation and global supply chain bottlenecks. He also claimed that the nation's income inequality and social polarization were being alleviated. But in fact, the income and wealth disparity have widened due to the pandemic.
More seriously, the President was trying to legitimize his reckless push for prosecutorial reform by lauding it as an achievement to realize checks and balances to prevent the abuse of power. He should not turn a deaf ear to public backlash against the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), a new investigative body created under Moon's reform plan, which collected phone records of an opposition party presidential candidate, lawmakers and citizens apparently for surveillance.
Moon's top priority for this year is to defeat the pandemic and ensure a free and fair competition for the March 9 presidential election. His government also should go all out to speed up economic recovery and stabilize the overheated housing market. Most of all, it must urgently promote social cohesion and national unity.
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