Published : Jan. 25, 2016 - 15:42
Economic democratization, the idea that the nation’s economy should be operated in a democratic manner, was a successful method for the ruling conservative camp to embrace a progressive welfare agenda and win swing votes during the 2012 elections.
But now that the current administration is entering its fourth year in office, the issue appears to be adding to the dispute between the government and liberal civic groups.
Their conflicts are largely related to economic strategist Kim Jong-in, who recently joined The Minjoo Party of Korea. Kim was best known for spearheading the economic democratization campaign for then-candidate Park Geun-hye in the 2012 presidential election. In 1987, Kim famously led the move to include term limits in the revised Constitution as a lawmaker, although the scope of his contribution is still debated.
By having him on board, the Saenuri Party was able to quell much of voters’ skepticism of its sincerity in democratizing the economy.
The president and the ruling party are now accused of returning to the conservative way, focusing on growth and neglecting what once had been its flagship campaign slogan.
Last week, adding fuel to the debate was the Fair Trade Commission‘s report summing up the Park administration’s achievements in terms of economic democratization.
“The current government has successfully legislated 13 out of its 20 policy targets over the past three years,” the antitrust agency said in a press release. “This was a result that no previous government had achieved before.”
President Park Geun-hye cheers with participants at a meeting with business representatives to mark the New Year at Coex in southern Seoul on Jan. 6. Yonhap
The key accomplishments included a ban on cross-shareholding and conglomerate monopolization, as well as a reinforced protection system for small and medium-sized businesses and suppliers.
The government has also made it clear that it will deal strictly with conglomerate owners’ crimes and hand down actual sentences without a pardon, the agency added.
But this favorable assessment immediately led to fierce backlash from progressive civic groups.
“The Park Geun-hye administration’s economic democratization story is nothing but a fraud,” said the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy in a press conference.
Among the government’s 18 election campaigns related to economic democratization, only two have been put to practice, which are the ban on cross-shareholding and the reinforced regulations on nonbanking capital involvement in banking business, it claimed.
“Even the banking business deregulation has not been properly implemented as the government, while imposing the restrictions, also alleviated some other rules for large capital bases, citing the introduction of Internet-only banks,” an official of the PSPD said.
The general deregulation made it easier for conglomerates to enter the banking industry and extend their monopolies, according to the civic group.
Also, the release of controversial businessmen such as SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won and Hanwha Group vice chairman Kim Hyun-joong last year showed that the president has failed to abide by her previous pledge to deal strictly with conglomerates’ economic wrongdoings, the official added.
The Minjoo Party, which is expected to underline the economic democratization slogan ahead of the April general election, has refrained from commenting on the FTC-PSPD conflict.
“Tolerant growth will be possible only when economic democratization is implemented,” said Kim Jong-in, at the party’s election committee meeting on Monday.
By Bae Hyun-jung (
tellme@heraldcorp.com)