코로나 이후의 대한민국과 정치의 역할 (The Role of Politics in South Korea in Post Corona Pandemic)

위 글은 영남대학교 2021년 5월 31일 유승민 특강을 기반으로 작성되었습니다.

This is posted based on a special lecture by Seung-min Yu in May 31th, 2021 in Yeungnam University.

 

 

We have to make sure to look forward toward the future ahead of at least 100 years, not just staying in the past. 

 

1. Before this pandemic of COVID-19 (1945-2021)

We were developing fast until 1990s, including our economics, politics, and the growth of population. But after that, we are in a crisis, death rate are bigger than birth rate. So we have to imagine how our future would be.

 

  ▶ Problems we have to solve

  1) Low-growth 

: Growth is important for our jobs, and this relates to income, which relates to tax, and this combines with well-run of a country. 

  2) Low birth rate

: 0.84 of birth rate is the lowest in the world. 

  3) Unequality and Polarization

: In 1997, because of the crisis of IMF, unequality of economic goods becomes bigger.

  4) Peace and Safety

 

2. Changes after COVID-19

  1) Three difficulties of 'Low growth - Low birth rate - Polarization'

- Our overall export becomes harsher. And as mortage industry becomes worse, the birth rate becomes lower, which leads to polarization. It is not the only fault of one government. It is that everything is becoming downfall. The point is, how to pull these problems out of the surface.

 

2) Dispute between the U.S and China

- Problems between those countries have great impact on other countries. The small sea between China and Daeman is becoming a huge problem in Korea, which seems to be unrelated to us. South Korea is a victim of other countries around us. Pretending just a neutral country is not a solution.

 

3. What we want

1) Eating and Living : Jobs and mortage

- Korea is a republic of democracy. Democracy is following a rule of majority, which has considerable defects of course, though it seems fair(51% of the total controls everything). How to protect the minority is the most important. The values of 'republic' compensate with democracy. 

 

2) Fairness and Justice 

 

★ '-ism' is the most important (ex. liberism, communism)

: We have to think what society we want to make. 

 

4. The key to solve this problem

 

We have to make our economy grow again!

 

We might think our economy has grown a lot already that there is no more to grow. The degree and own status is different from country to country, so don't think growth is already done. And there are other worries about AI, but Amazon and Google are the excepted examples. 'Sustainable Growth' is the most important. 

 

5. Value of Growth

- Dublin of Ireland : They have suffered 'the Great Famine'.But they made their economy growth, and after that, they became a lot more richer.

- 'Great Leap Forward' in China : Changing the concept and philosophy of China made its economy grow.

 

6. Strategy for Economic Growth

- Raise of students for digital revolution : We have to pace to 4th Industrial Revolution

- Labor Revolution : Employers and employees should negotiate for the country's development, not just thinking of their own profits.

- Regulations Revolution

- Stable Mortagage with the supply of houses

 

7. Justice

- <공정하다는 착각>

- We have to try to make 'Fairness of Conditions'.

 

8. Politics

- Essence of Politics : Changing the world though getting lots of people on other sides (Politics is the power of changing the world)

- The young should also try to participate in the politics in our society.

- The proficiency to solve the problem

: Unproficiency in the politics is the wrong thing. Proficient youngsers are trying to be government officials, only looking forward to stability, which leads to low-growth of the country.

 

9. War against Populism

- Populism means a non-sense policy, just to gain populism. Politics for people is the most important.

 

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Q&A ) Education in Korea

- If we don't change education in schools dramatically, anything would be changed. And this starts from the revolution of teachers who are now in middle or high schools. Government should promote teachers to change. And departments in universities which are useless and outdated should be changed. English is very important in this global era, but English in Korea is useless. Finland, which has promoted a lot, is having education with AI. New technologies should be accepted, but it is not going well, because of old fashioned departments and professors who are trying to keep their status. We have to revolutionize dramatically. We must pursuade them, trying to protect them.