Uri Party chairman Kim Geun-tae visited the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry yesterday and proposed a so-called "new deal." According to it, if the business community moves to revitalize the economy through investment and increased hiring, the ruling party will accommodate the demands being made by business, including those made by the big conglomerates. In addition to removing restrictions on cross-investment, Seoul is ready to accept deregulation and protections on managerial rights, and even push for pardons for businessmen who have run afoul of the law. Kim said that restrictions particular to the greater capital region could be relaxed, as well. He said that he is going to visit the Federation of Korean Industries and the Federation of Small and Medium Businesses and propose the same deal, saying that he is willing to meet with conglomerate tycoons if necessary.
That is a dangerous "deal" and one holds doubts about the effect it will truly have. A deal means there is something out there worthy of exchange, of give and take. Are principles that form the basis of national policy and economic structure bargaining chips? Kim is terribly naive if he thinks removing cross-investment restrictions and pardoning big business tycoons who have upset the natural course of the economy will lead companies to make new investments and increase hiring. Even if business makes those kind of promises, there is nothing to guarantee they will carry them out.
There is something wrong with Kim's methods, too. By the looks of it, he is begging big business to put life into the economy for the sake of the common people. When has anyone stood in front of conglomerates and seriously asked for handouts to fight socioeconomic disparity? Perhaps it is a problem with Uri as a party, where former bureaucrats and businessmen lead the policy committee.
The expression "new deal" is silly. The intention seems to be to use the English world "deal" and make people think of the New Deal policy of the United States. In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt won the U.S. presidency on something he called a "new deal for the forgotten man." Kim Geun-tae is also a potential presidential candidate. Roosevelt's New Deal, however, was a way to get America out of an unprecedented depression. The Korean economy is said to be having difficulty, but you have to ask if it is really so much of an emergency situation that the country needs to tear down its principles and adopt what Kim even says are 'debatable' policies. Furthermore, the New Deal strengthened the U.S. federal government and presidential authority at a time when the U.S. had been dominated by laissez faire policies. If Kim is going to bring an idea to Korea he needs to do it properly.
Kim's proposal is quite out of step with current government policy, so you worry about what kind of confusion this might lead to. Where is the ship going to end up going when there are two captains with different ideas? Kim needs to make himself better known to the public, and the ruling party is in trouble these days, but that is all the more reason why he needs to be true to his principles.
[Editorial] Uri Party chair's misguided 'New Deal' proposal |
