Written Statement
before
ECOSOC High-Level Segment & Political Forum in 2023

Jingo Strikes Back Korea: Surmount Unelightenment

Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice (Special, 1999)[1]
Seoul, April 28, 2023

 

Last year amid the COVID-19 crisis drove Korea’s CPI (consumer price index) averaged 5.0% of high inflation from high interest into debt traps, hardships and insolvencies. After scurrilous Yoon’s regime change, in an air of his unenlightenmentalism, Korea foreshadowed unstable security, socioeconomically and environmentally and internationally. Correspondingly, his approval rating has dipped below thirties percent, and nationwide professors degrade his administration as poor (averaged 1.9/5.0 scale). Hence, of particular breakthroughs for SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) 6, 7, 9, 11, 17,[i] advise our following statements:

Socioeconomic Security

1.           As suspicious about Ponzi-scheme housing of Jeonse [전세: 傳貰], an exorbitantly lump-sum deposit that has accounted for over 70% of recently crashing house prices fluctuated wildly—wide-spreadingly gap-investing it in circular-housing speculations as long as highly floating-interest mortgages on Jeonse—so insolvent that the deposit likely fails to be returned to tenants,[ii] we solicit the government to expand the Publicly Purchased-Rental Housing [공공매입임대주택][iii] affordable for many houseless tenants lest properties would be re-inflated.

2.           As solicitous about industrial safety from serious accidents, Korea legislated the Serious Accidents Punishment Act [중대재해 처벌 등에 관한 법률],[iv] and we stress the Act that the overlooked corporations need a safeguard to be executed severely for casualties lest laborers are sacrificed, also including such public accidents (so-called, “serious civil disasters [중대시민재해]”).

3.           Foreseeing more and more wide-spreading redundancies from those pandemic crises, digital transformation and economic polarization, we shall promote financial and employment security with stabilization funds and low-interest loans to SME’s (small and medium-sized enterprises) vulnerable industries and allocate SOCs (social overhead capitals) to light industry; to narrow the digital divide, we shall promote redistributive taxation with preferential tax regimes on innovative technicians and founders rather than investors, with tax adjustment for inflation in income, consumption, and property between the natural and legal persons, under new tax revenues that should be collected from burgeoning landowners, carbon, data, robots.

Environmental Security

4.           Remonstrating Korea’s desultorily Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (Korea, 2015)[v] towards reducing by 40.0% of overall greenhouse-gas emissions from 2018 until 2030 (to 436.6MMTCDE) so long as the Blueprint for Carbon Neutrality & Green Growth in 2050 (MOTIE, 2023),[vi] we warn Yoon’s regime against economically winnowing chaebols’ industrial-road-to-carbon conversion from 14.5% (emit 222.6MMTCDE) to 11.4% (emit 230.7MMTCDE) whereby going to abridge renewable energy as much as supplement nuclear energy while overpricing household utilities to recoup these energy losses from their heavy industry[vii]; such a calculating conversion should be reformed through chaebols’ industrial reconversion into clean, reasonable, affordable, safe energy instead of nuclear power.

5.           Deprecating Japan’s discharge of radioactive wastewater (scientifically, tritiated water) from the Fukushima nuclear disaster into the ocean,[viii] we castigate Japan and IAEA for their scientific snobbery to untenable safety only, without immaculate decontamination nor permanently-sealed-radioactive-waste-watertight containment vessels.

International Relations

6.           Inveighing against Japan’s historical distortion of the Japanese military sexual slavery[ix] and the Liancourt Rocks (indigenously, Dokdo [독도]) belonging to Korea,[x] we condemn Japan’s allies for their intervening in Korea’s crashing concession, in the interest of their jingoism, for blind rapprochemency, out of humiliatingly furtive diplomacy as Machiavellian as an unjustifiably compromising sycophancy upon self-reparations by Korea only, without Japan’s self-reflection from the war crimes against humanity nor its public apology to the gang-rape victims.

 

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[1] This statement was contributed by Hochul M. Jung (hcjung@ccej.or.kr) to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for discussion in the 2023 High-Level Segment and Political Forum on the theme “Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels.” The written statement was taken note by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) to be published. You can see further information: https://hlpf.un.org/2023

If you need more information about us,
■ Please, visit us: http://ccej.or.kr/eng/who-we-are/about-us/;
■ Refer to our achievements (RLA, 2003): http://www.rightlivelihoodaward.org/laureates/citizens-coalition-for-economic-justice-ccej/

References

[i] UN. (2023). Secretariat Concept Note. Retrieved from: https://hlpf.un.org/sites/default/files/2023-04/HLPF%202023%20Programme%20Concept%20Note_1.pdf

[ii] Jeonse fraud with home value deliberately appraised (2022, October 3). The Dong-A Ilbo (Eng. Ed.). Retrieved from https://www.donga.com/en/article/all/20221003/3674227/1

[iii] MOLIT. (2023). Sectoral Policies: Housing. Retrieved from http://www.molit.go.kr/english/USR/WPGE0201/m_36856/DTL.jsp

[iv] Serious Accidents Punishment Act (2021). Act No. 17907. Retrieved from https://elaw.klri.re.kr/kor_service/lawView.do?hseq=59952&lang=ENG

[v] Korea. (2015). Intended Nationally Determined Contribution. UNFCCC. Retrieved from https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/submissions/INDC/Published%20Documents/Republic%20of%20Korea/1/INDC%20Submission%20by%20the%20Republic%20of%20Korea%20on%20June%2030.pdf

[vi] MOTIE. (2023). ibid. Retrieved from https://www.motie.go.kr/motie/ne/presse/press2/bbs/bbsView.do?bbs_seq_n=166944&bbs_cd_n=81&currentPage=1&search_key_n=&cate_n=&dept_v=&search_val_v=

[vii] Korea revises down emission reduction target for businesses. (2023, March 22). Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea. Retrieved from https://pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?year=2023&no=222142

[viii] IAEA & Japan. (2021–2023). Fukushima Daiichi ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) Treated Water Discharge. Retrieved from https://www.iaea.org/topics/response/fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-accident/fukushima-daiichi-alps-treated-water-discharge

[ix] The Korean Council. (2018–2023). What is Japanese Military Sexual Slavery System. Retrieved from https://womenandwar.net/kr/what-is-japanese-military-sexual-slavery-system/

[x] MOFA. (2013–2023). Why Dokdo is Korean Territory. Retrieved from https://dokdo.mofa.go.kr/eng/; VANK. (2018–2023). Facts about Dokdo. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/llcA54P1eKk

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20230428 [Statement] Jingo Strikes Back Korea; Surmount Unenlightenment

Contact: International & Economic Department +82-2-766-6723