hankyoreh

President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea delivers a New Year’s address from the presidential office in Seoul’s Yongsan neighborhood on Jan. 1, 2024. (Yonhap)

In his New Year’s address on Monday, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol vowed to break up “syndicate cartels” he said are “driven by their own interests and ideologies.” Yoon declared he will make 2024 a year of “recovery” for the public livelihood, while arguing that it will be necessary to expel vested-interest cartels to achieve this aim.  

Broadcasting live from the presidential office, Yoon declared, “Genuine reforms for the people are not possible without fighting corrupt syndicate cartels.”

“Since its inception, my administration has consistently fought and rooted out corruption and illegal activities. Interest group cartels, government subsidies abuse and the harmful effects of monopolies in certain industries have been major targets,” Yoon said in his address.

“We will continue our endeavors this year to expand your freedom, improve welfare and create a fair society,” the president went on.

Since his inauguration, Yoon has consistently referred to certain labor unions, activist and civic groups, the construction industry, and the private education industry as “vested-interest cartels.” He upped the intensity of his language in his New Year’s address by adding the terms “ideology” and “syndicates,” indicating that he will not engage or compromise with his political opposition and critics.

“The people are at the center of my government’s every policy,” Yoon said. “It is not a government that just carries out reviews. My government will be an ‘action-oriented, problem-solving government.’”

Yoon underscored the necessity of reforming labor policies, public education, and the pension system. Regarding labor policies, he declared, “Law abiding labor movements will be fully guaranteed. However, illegal activities — whether arising from labor unions or management — will be sternly dealt with.”

Emphasizing “the rule of law” when it comes to labor-management relations, Yoon also vowed to transform the wage system into a merit-based one and to reform what he considers an inflexible labor market. He also addressed the country’s plummeting birth rate as an urgent issue. Yoon pointed to “excessive competition” as a key cause of the low birth rate, vowing to alleviate the issue by pushing policies that aim for more balanced economic development outside Seoul and the capital area.  

Yoon also vowed to invest in “job-creating diplomacy.” Regarding inter-Korean relations, he stressed the importance of “complet[ing] the enhanced ROK-US extended deterrence system” to “fundamentally deter” any North Korean nuclear and missile threat at its source, indicating he will continue his hard-line stance on Pyongyang.

By Bae Ji-hyun, staff reporter

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