The presidential office and Na Gyeong-won, vice chairman of the Low Birth Rate and Aging Society Committee, are openly waging a war of nerves every day. Controversy sparked when the President’s office refuted Na’s Hungarian-style ‘debt of loan principal upon childbirth’, saying that it was “just a personal opinion.” When Vice Chairman Na repeatedly stated, “There is no overcoming the low birth rate that can be solved without money,” the President’s Office openly mentioned his voluntary resignation as Vice Chairman, calling it “inappropriate words and actions.” It is unusual for the ruling and opposition parties to blush like this over policy direction within the ruling party.
The conflict between the president’s office and vice chairman Na is also giving birth to various speculations in conjunction with the 3/8 National Convention to select the people’s strength representative. This is because after Vice Chairman Na expressed his will to run for the former presidential election despite the dissuade from the core of the passport, the presidential office seems to be putting the brakes on the half-baked idea of low birth rate.
The vice chairman of the Low Fertility Committee under the direct control of the president is a part-time position, but it is a ministerial-level position with ministers from seven ministries as ex officio members. It is an important position to establish a mid- to long-term vision and strategy to overcome the rapid population decline and rapid aging trend. In this respect, Vice Chairman Hannah’s statement that “the vice chairman is not a public official” is inappropriate. Criticism is rising that it is ‘self-political’ even for saying, “It would be better if he concurrently served as the party representative,” putting aside the serious task of reconciling differences between ministries with intertwined interests.
It seems that the presidential office cannot avoid political misunderstandings. It was customary for the government and the ruling party to coordinate internally when there were differences in policy. However, this time, the presidential office openly attacked Vice Chairman Na directly, so it can no longer be seen as a simple policy debate. This is the reason why it is pointed out that the President’s office provided an excuse for the controversy over Yoon Shim’s intervention ahead of the fair election.
As the controversy over Vice Chairman Na’s remarks continues, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration’s measures against low birth rates and aging will inevitably drift astray. The power of the people The war of nerves surrounding the party authority should not allow the country’s hundred-year plan of low birth rate and aging measures to go unnoticed. The presidential office and vice chairman Na should end this controversy as soon as possible.