Yoon's reform efforts likely to end without significant progress

Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo speaks at an emergency National Security Council meeting Friday afternoon. (Pool photo via Yonhap)
Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo speaks at an emergency National Security Council meeting Friday afternoon. (Pool photo via Yonhap)

Acting President Han Duck-soo said the government would respect the Constitutional Court's ruling to uphold former President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, stressing the need to overcome political division.

Shortly after the ruling was delivered, Han said in a televised address that he would work to manage the presidential election to establish a new administration. By law, South Korea must hold a presidential election within 60 days if a president is removed by the Constitutional Court or in the event of death.

"Today, the Constitutional Court confirmed its verdict over the president's impeachment case," Han said. "I feel deeply sorry for an unfortunate situation in which a sitting head of state has been impeached (and removed) for the second time in constitutional history."

Han also pledged to ensure readiness in national security, address trade uncertainties and establish public safety before a newly elected president assumes their role.

After his address, Han presided over an emergency meeting with members of the Cabinet on Friday at noon, ordering Cabinet ministers to remain unperturbed in addressing state affairs during the early election period. Han also urged the ministries to remain politically neutral and cooperate with election authorities. Han also convened an emergency National Security Council meeting Friday afternoon.

With the ruling ousting Yoon, his conservative administration's national reform initiatives will likely fizzle out.

Since his inauguration in May 2022, Yoon mapped out major pillars of national reform to address the medical staff shortage and looming pension depletion, as well as labor market, education and population crises.

Yoon described these reforms as "a matter of survival for the country" before his martial law declaration in December.

Aside from pension reform — which materialized following a bipartisan compromise earlier in March — these policy agendas bore little fruit under the Yoon administration.

"Following the ruling to uphold Yoon's impeachment, South Korea will embark on an early presidential election period. As a result, the Yoon administration's major policy initiatives, like a proposed reform push, will likely evaporate," said Choi Jin, director of the Seoul-based Institute of Presidential Leadership.

Yoon's drive to increase the annual medical school quota nationwide by 2,000 to 5,058 will likely be scrapped. Deputy Prime Minister Lee Ju-ho unveiled plans in March to conditionally cancel the quota hike if medical students returned to school.

With Yoon's removal, talks between the government, major political parties and doctors to address the medical staff shortage are unlikely to resume.

Yoon's bid to establish a new ministry to tackle demographic challenges is also expected to return to square one.

The Yoon administration proposed a new ministry led by a deputy prime minister in July. It claimed the reorganization of the government would streamline the process of devising policies to tackle the low birth rate and aging population, as multiple ministries are now involved in tasks related to the population crisis under the current government organization.

South Korea's push for labor market reforms will also likely fade.

Yoon's hardline stance against labor unions led to strengthened regulations on financial disclosure. But Yoon's conservative reform agenda to make working hours flexible and adopt a merit-based pay system now appears to be on the back burner.

In the meantime, the Yoon administration's push to adopt artificial intelligence-powered textbooks lost steam amid persisting criticism over a lack of school infrastructure for full-fledged adoption.

"Had Yoon not declared martial law, he would still have struggled to make any actual policy achievements," Choi said, adding that policy-related issues under the Yoon administration were overshadowed by his own political problems.

Yoon struggled to get legislation passed, and faced multiple scandals involving himself or his wife Kim Keon Hee, along with opposition-led attempts to open probes into them, before he declared military rule in December.


consnow@heraldcorp.com