Yoon vows no compromise with illegality

Dec 14, 2022, 09:30 am

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President Yoon Suk-yeol presides over a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on Dec. 13, 2022./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Lee Wook-jae

President Yoon Suk-yeol delivered a strong message on Tuesday, saying, “Those who want to break liberal democracy constantly instigate lies to deceive the public or try to scare them with violence if it doesn’t work. We must never compromise with these forces.”

Yoon, who made the labor union ‘empty-handed’ in a strong response to the collective transport refusal by truckers under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), stressed the importance of the values and principles of liberal democracy, citing the related response.

In his closing remarks after presiding over a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, Yoon said, “If a nation, that should hold accountable to those who violates the law, neglects to do so, it is denying the freedom of our society and neglecting the socially vulnerable.”

“The reason I emphasized freedom and solidarity from the time I entered the poli tical world is that Korean society has forgotten the value of freedom for too long, and the social reality that ignores freedom is damaging many vulnerable groups and causing the country to deviate from the normal track,” Yoon said. He called illegal acts during the strike, such as violence, extortion, coercion of employment and construction obstruction as “acts damaging freedom” that must be “eradicated.”

“To protect liberal democracy, we must value the truth,” Yoon said. “This is why we entrust state affairs to experts, not agitators. If this cannot be corrected, it is not a nation.”

In addition, Yoon strongly criticized the so-called ‘Moon-Jae-in Care’, which increased the health insurance coverage rate, calling it a “populist policy” that wastes taxpayers’ money and pledged to reform it.

“Over the past five years, more than 20 trillion won was poured into strengthening insurance coverage, but the government has neglected medical abuse and free rise in health insurance, passing on the burden to the majority of the people,” he said. “Populist policies ruin the finances, harm the foundation of the health insurance system, and eventually force the people to make great sacrifices. Health care reform is a necessity, not an option.”

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