Song Ho-keun, a distinguished professor at Hallym University, pointed out the recent political climate of intensifying "adversarial politics" at a National Assembly forum. He argued that adversarial politics worsened after the "'86 generation," who were born in the 1960s and attended school in the 1980s and were the backbone of the pro-democracy movement, entered politics.
On the morning of the 24th, Professor Song gave a lecture at the National Assembly under the theme "Liquidation of adversarial politics and proposals." The lecture was arranged at the invitation of People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-se.
Professor Song traced the start of adversarial politics to the 18th general election in 2008, when the '86 generation entered the National Assembly en masse. He said the generation that led the pro-democracy movement pursued a strategy of shifting faults to the previous administration in politics, and now both the ruling and opposition parties are using the same strategy.
Professor Song said, "When the '86 generation entered politics in the 2008 general election, enormous aspirations poured out, and in factional fights they mainly emphasized the failures of the administration," adding, "But for ordinary voters, ideology does not matter; the core is how to live comfortably and well."
He went on to say, "Now, whether it is the ruling party or the opposition, when policy failures arise they shift the blame to the prior government and employ a strategy of denying legitimacy," adding, "At this point adversarial politics is operating in an uncontrollable state."
He also noted that as politicians focus only on maintaining power, unvetted policies are pouring out. He emphasized the need to implement a "policy real-name system" to clarify accountability when side effects occur.
Professor Song said, "Because of the imperial presidency, unverified policies desired by those in power are being poured out, and the public suffers every five years," adding, "The probability of policy success is low, and the public bears the side effects. We should adopt a policy real-name system and hold those responsible when problems arise."
He continued, "U.S. economist Paul Krugman argued that the farther apart the two major parties are, the lower the economic growth rate," adding, "In Korea, policies are severed and liquidated every time the administration changes. To reduce the public's burden, there ultimately needs to be a visible throughline in policy."