South Korean President Moon Jae-in has officially appointed his nominee Cho Kuk as justice minister, despite an escalating prosecution investigation into fraud and corruption suspicions surrounding him and his relatives. And the scandal surrounding the justice minister appointee has reignited debate over class privilege in South Korea.
Dr. Changsu Kim, an advisor to the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, indicated that the widening gap between the rich and the poor is causing increasing resentment and anger among the South Korean youth. He pointed out that the public opinion polls in South Korea show that the young people in the 20s and 30s are the least supportive of the nomination and appointment of Cho Kuk.
Some say the current dilemma of Moon Jae-in is reminiscent of the scandals that triggered the fall of former president Park Geun-hye. President Moon Jae-in took office in 2017 after the impeachment for corruption of Park Geun-hye, who came from one of South Korea's most prominent political families. President Moon promised change and said that "opportunities will be equal, processes will be fair, and results will be just."
However, Dr. Kim cautioned that the controversial appointment of Cho Kuk as justice minister would remind people what President Moon said during his inauguration speech and many people would also be curious about what further steps the president would take to fulfill his promises.
Meanwhile, soaring unemployment, a sagging economy and diplomatic problems are also giving President Moon a hard time, causing his approval ratings to drop sharply.
Yang Xiyu, a senior fellow from the China Institute of International Studies, said that in his midway of five-year term, Moon is now facing both political and economic challenges. Yang also referred the high unemployment problem to both gloomy economic situation and structural problem in South Korea's education system. "Over-education provided much more highly-educated young people into the market, but unfortunately, no such a huge demand to meet the huge supply," he said.
And the recent trade war between South Korea and Japan may make the case even worse, as media reports show South Korea's economic growth this year may suffer the weakest pace in a decade.
Following export controls on high-tech materials bound for South Korea, Japan last month removed South Korea from its whitelist of trusted trade partners with preferential status, while South Korea withdrew from an intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan.
Looking at tensions between South Korea and Japan, Dr. Changsu Kim said that even though South Korea and Japan have tried very hard to accommodate each other's positions, there is a long-term and deep-rooted history issues to be resolved. Dr. Kim called on professionals, businessmen, and academia to come up with a better solution instead of the official spat between the governments.
Naoyuki Yoshino, dean and CEO of the Asian Development Bank Institute, suggested that politicians should look at globally rather than their own problems. And the most important thing is to promote free trade in the region and also global development of the Asian region as a whole.
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