Yoo Seung-min: "Moon Administration's Claim That 8·15 Rally Caused GDP Decline Is Absurd"

"Job Market 'Dire'... Regime Change Needed to Revive Economy"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min criticized the October employment trends announced by Statistics Korea on the 11th, saying, "No matter how much you criticize President Moon Jae-in on issues like jobs, housing, and national debt, it is like talking to a wall," and added, "The absurd claim that GDP decreased by 0.5 percentage points due to the August 15 rally reflects the level of this administration."

On the same day, Yoo said through Facebook, "The only way to revive the economy is to change the administration."

Yoo pointed out, "The number of employed people decreased by 421,000, the employment rate fell by 1.4 percentage points, the unemployment rate rose by 0.7 percentage points, and the number of unemployed reached 1.028 million. Employment among those aged 15 to 64 dropped by 659,000, while employment among those aged 65 and over increased by 238,000," adding, "The working-age population is losing jobs, but the elderly population is increasing employment through short-term tax-funded jobs, which is why these statistics appear."

Yoo also stated, "In reality, the number of employed people working less than 36 hours per week increased by 614,000, while those working 36 hours or more decreased by 1.224 million," and explained, "Proper jobs have drastically decreased, but only short-term jobs have increased. These numbers reflect short-term part-time jobs created by tax money."

Yoo emphasized, "What we should pay attention to is that the economically inactive population not counted as unemployed increased by 508,000, temporary leave workers rose by 190,000, and discouraged job seekers increased by 112,000. These people should be considered effectively unemployed," and added, "The job situation in October was this dire. However, to President Moon, this employment disaster and the suffering of young and middle-aged people who lost their jobs seem invisible, and he appears to see illusions. Otherwise, he would not make the nonsense claims of 'the economy showing a miraculous performance' and 'clear growth trends.'"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.