Moon over the economy

By Deauwand Myers

The Democratic Party of Korea has had a fixation on rapprochement with North Korea for decades now. The famous (and somewhat tarnished) legacy of the Sunshine Policy in 1998 by then President Kim Dae-jung (the political mentor of current President Moon Jae-in) was ultimately unsuccessful.

A string of bloody strikes from the North's military, culminating in the deaths of dozens of South Korean navy sailors with the covert sinking of the Cheonan, elucidates this point.

Moreover, since the Sunshine Policy's sunset, the North has continued its research and development of ICBMs, nuclear-tipped missiles capable of traversing vast distances at speed and reaching American territory.

The problem with this (honorable) goal of peace with the North is simple and profound: Denuclearization will never be accepted by North Korea. As I wrote last month, North Korea's regime is hell-bent on keeping its rudimentary nuclear arsenal as a deterrent against forced regime change from the United States, et al.

For North Korea, the atomic bomb equals survival. The recent test launches of several short-range missiles by the North's military is proof that not only is North Korea still belligerent, it sees its missile test launches as a means to get international attention, especially after the (predictably) unsuccessful nuclear summits between Kim and Trump.

This conundrum for President Moon is twofold. One, Moon expended a great deal of political capital, intellectual energy, and time toward bettering diplomatic relations with North Korea, to no avail.

Two, it's obvious to even a casual observer of Korean politics that the citizenry is dissatisfied with Moon's preoccupation with North Korean diplomacy to the neglect of addressing domestic issues, especially the widening wealth gap, unemployment and/or underemployment of young adults who have achieved tertiary education.

Korea's executive branch is even more powerful and centralized than that of America's. In such a top-down approach to governance, the president exerts enormous power over every aspect of the country's running. If she or he chooses, a great deal of the government's resources and attention will be focused on whatever the chief executive chooses.

It was a scandal when news outlets reported on how little time President Moon and his administration has spent on the domestic economy since his inauguration.

This is disappointing and dangerous for Korea's future. With a stagnant economy, plateauing wages, underemployment, a ballooning household debt burden, and a declining birthrate, Korea faces a huge challenge like that of Japan, China, and many advanced European democracies.

If a country has more elderly than they do people of age in gainful employment, social welfare programs will collapse. There simply isn't a large enough tax base to support the growing population of the aged and infirmed, not to mention the poor and underprivileged.

Further, unique to countries like Korea and Japan, the population is racially homogenous and somewhat averse to foreign immigration, meaning the country's workforce is understaffed in some industries. (But to be fair, having lived in both Korea and Japan, the Korean government is far more engaged in welcoming foreigners and providing services to support foreign life in Korean society).

There are ways to address these issues. First, the Democratic Party (like that of the United States' iteration) believes and has proposed and implemented policies to help improve the socioeconomic and sociopolitical conditions of the population.

During Moon's campaign, he promised to create more opportunities for young adults and wageworkers. In 2017, some of these policies included pumping a relatively conservative 10 trillion won ($8.9 billion) in the form of a fiscal stimulus in the hopes of inducing job creation and in support of startups and small- to mid-sized companies.

He also pledged to create nearly a million public sector jobs by increasing taxes on the rich and through better regulation of major family-owned conglomerates (called chaebol), like Samsung.

Unfortunately, these policies have not been fully planned-out or implemented, all while showy displays of North Korean engagement flood the media. Just in terms of political optics, this isn't a very good look. It's no wonder then President Moon receives low approval ratings on the handling of domestic economic issues.

But all is not lost. Moon has enough time left in his tenure to do two things at once. Sure, pursue better relations with North Korea. But while doing so, pay special attention to the bread and butter issues of the working and middle classes.

Rising educational costs, the rising cost of living, and an unsure and stressful future after university graduation threaten to undermine not only Moon and his party's legacy, it threatens Korea's viability as an Asian economic power and its continued success in providing a modern standard of living.

Former President Clinton's aid James Carville famously quipped, "It's all about the economy, stupid." This makes just as much sense if said in Korean.

Deauwand Myers (deauwand@hotmail.com) holds a master's degree in English literature and literary theory, and is an English professor outside Seoul.