Liberal landslide imperils Yoon government's reform drive

General election 2024

Published: 11 Apr. 2024, 17:48 Updated: 11 Apr. 2024, 19:54

Liberal landslide imperils Yoon government's reform drive

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a meeting held on April 4 at the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul, to discuss further details on policy plans outlined during previous town hall meetings. [YONHAP]

Following the latest election defeat, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration must now navigate a rocky road ahead with its policy initiatives expected to face headwinds from the liberal Democratic Party (DP)-controlled parliament.

In his first New Year remarks in office in 2023, President Yoon said that “we can no longer delay the three major reforms in labor, education and pensions, that will determine the fate of the nation and generations to come.” The president reiterated the message a year later in this year's New Year's remarks, stressing that "the three major structural reforms in labor, education and pension should proceed without falter.”

Structural reforms, especially in labor and pensions, are considered the nation's most imminent yet also most contentious political priorities.

In labor, the Yoon administration has been focusing on flexible work hours. The plan, introduced in November last year, was to relax the 52-hour workweek cap for certain business sectors.

However, as lifting the 52-hour workweek cap requires legislative revision and, therefore, the parliament’s approval, the plan is expected to hit a major snag.

In its policy pledges for the general election, the DP promised to reduce working hours in Korea to below the OECD average by 2030. The goal is to gradually adopt a 4.5-workday week, which has also been one of DP leader Lee Jae-myung's flagship projects since his presidential election campaign in 2022.

The DP will likely keep its helm for the pension reform as well, which was already sluggish at best. While the parliamentary committee for pension reform consists of six members from the DP and six from the conservative People Power Party (PPP), the DP, as the majority in the National Assembly, will be able to assume the leadership role.

As the DP won the majority, "discussions surrounding reduced or flexible work hours will now gain more traction," said Cho Kyu-jun, senior researcher at the Korea Labor Institute, predicting that the National Assembly will be able to gradually move forward with legislative reforms and measures to incentivize companies.

Other policy agendas, including a series of pledges Yoon outlined during 24 rounds of town hall meetings across the country from January, face a murky future.

On April 4, Yoon promised that the government "will work on the bills relevant to policy agendas" discussed during town hall meetings and "do its best to submit them to the new National Assembly and have them passed as promptly as possible.”

Moreover, the DP and its allies may attempt to revive the bills previously rejected by the president, including the so-called "yellow envelope law," aimed at preventing companies from pursuing compensatory damages against labor union strikes, and the revision of the Grain Management Act.

Amid a dire economic situation, the government needs to set its priorities straight and focus on what can be done in collaboration with the DP, experts warned.

“The government has been struggling to see eye-to-eye with the National Assembly, and that issue still remains, while the economy in general continues to remain slow with a fiscal deficit of nearly 90 trillion won ($65.8 billion) last year,” said Lee Jung-hee, an economics professor at Chung-Ang University.

Lee stressed that “improving the household economy," as emphasized by the government, should be the Yoon administration's priority.

The DP won a landslide victory in the April 10 general election, clinching 175 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, while the conservative PPP secured 108.

With the addition of minor parties such as former Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s Rebuilding Korea Party and former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon’s Saemirae Party, the wider liberal camp holds 189 of the parliamentary seats.

As the minimum number of parliamentary seats required for a constitutional amendment and impeachment stands at 200, or two-thirds of the National Assembly members, the PPP is considered to have held the last line of defense, albeit barely.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]