Japanese economy would decline and that Korea would overtake Japan in 10 years.
Yukio Noguchi, an emeritus professor at Hitotsubashi University, predicted that the Japanese economy would decline and that Korea would overtake Japan in 10 years. This is a warning message to Japanese society from an economist who was a former bureaucrat of the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that Korea has already surpassed Japan in terms of GDP per capita, labor productivity, and average wage in terms of purchasing power. Dr. Lee Myung-book, chan's "Reversal of Korea-Japan Relations," which drew a lot of attention last year, also analyzed Japan's rightward shift and anti-Korea sentiment as an expression of anxiety over Korea's remarkable progress in objective economic indicators.
Now, Samsung's market capitalization has surpassed Toyota's, and major Korean companies' operating profits far outpace those of major Japanese companies. As Korea excelled in cultural industries such as K-pop, K-drama, and K-game, the government began promoting K-disaster as an antidote to the corona crisis. Professor Noguchi's warning that Japan may lose its G7 seat to Korea in ten years is more realistic.
But the danger lurking behind this honor is even more terrifying. We experienced a foreign exchange crisis with the International Monetary Fund in 1987, ten years after the democratization system began (IMF). It was the result of prematurely popping champagne corks and declaring that it had made progress, such as joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The country's economy and individual lives were devastated as a result of corporate and personal bankruptcies. The incompetence of the civilian government, which only promoted economic liberalization because it was democratized and ignored the impending danger, resulted in such a disastrous outcome that the economy collapsed to the point where the entire nation launched a gold-raising campaign.
It is now the year of the eighth president to be elected since the country's democratization in 1987. Three of the seven elected presidents were imprisoned, and one committed suicide after leaving office. Due to family corruption, the other two presidents suffered at the end of their terms. For the first time in history, a single president was impeached. After democratization, it was expected that politics would be a driving force in bringing the dictatorship to an end and leading Korea into the future, but our politics has become increasingly abysmal.
The cost of democratization, which began with the 1987 system, has not been prohibitively high. Despite economic growth, the happiness index has fallen, income polarization has increased, and suicide rates have risen. Citizens' voices have grown stronger as a result of political democratization, but conflicts have grown louder and communication has deteriorated. Individual or group interests are prioritized over the interests of the state or society without hesitation. In the name of freedom, it is all too easy to harm the honor or value of others. The ideological flag is flapping, and the good of the community is being driven behind the scenes by emotional impulse. When the consistency of value judgments is broken, it becomes commonplace, and conventional common sense and logic are ignored. Politics is always in the spotlight.
It is estimated that the unfavorability of presidential candidates from both parties is around 60%. He makes far too many promises, as if he could accomplish anything if elected president. There are only improvised and steadfast promises of lowering the difficulty of the entrance exam, constructing millions of half-priced apartments, and increasing basic income and salaries for each group they meet. It's because they don't consider the country's future, but only the victory in front of them. It amplifies generational conflict, gender conflict, class conflict, and regional conflict, and only counts the tables, raising concerns about the national leader's lack of content.
The powerful Blue House and National Assembly are engrossed in one-sided enforcement politics, rejecting compromise and mediation. The principle of separation of powers in the presidential system of mutual checks and balances is collapsing as a majority of National Assembly members are appointed as executive branch ministers and the judiciary becomes politicized. Now, if the unfavorable president wields unfavorable power and the two major parties only fight for political change, our country's growth engine will stall, as it has in Japan.
There are far too many homework assignments ahead of us. If the US-China conflict worsens while China and Russia remain united and North Korea continues to develop nuclear weapons, the Korean Peninsula will turn into a powder keg. Protectionism and technological hegemony are upending the existing global value chain. Domestic issues such as labor reform, pension reform, education reform, and anti-low birth rate measures are also piling up. Japan's Kishida Cabinet, which was established last year, is said to be the first to establish a 100 trillion won fund for science and technology entry and to invest 3 trillion won in universities each year for future research.When the tortoise, who had been running steadily, pops champagne, the rabbit, who had only slept for 30 years, stretches and attempts to run. We are concerned that we will face another IMF crisis as a result of presidential candidates who appear to be inebriated and only promise to share and spread.
Now that the regime of 1987 has ended, I hope that this year will be the rebels' first year of political reform. Jaya's power enabled the establishment of the 1987 system. Politics should not be destroying our future in this way. It is no longer necessary to disregard existing politicians' expectations, as well as those of academia, religious circles, and social movement circles, as well as the MZ generation and young civic society. It is necessary to establish an evaluation system for elected positions, including members of the National Assembly, as well as to nurture future politicians in a systematic manner. Politicians who prioritize selfishness and slander, false propaganda and irresponsibility, dancing, cooking, and performing arts must be expelled.
Politicians who genuinely care about their country's future should go out into the wilderness to lead the way in political reform rather than relying on the dream of a president to overcome the evils of the unruly presidential system and two-party politics.