Europe is engulfed in large-scale protests. Citizens and youth in countries including France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, and Albania have taken to the streets to voice their opposition to soaring inflation, housing difficulties, and inadequate public sector investment.
This situation starkly illustrates the severity of the structural challenges facing European society. The root causes stem from a long-standing commitment to enhancing the European welfare system and an excessive reliance on socialist policies.
The failure to reform pensions amid ongoing generational conflicts is particularly painful. Additionally, neglecting free market principles while continuing welfare programs and indiscriminately increasing regulations has led to a fiscal crisis, significantly diminishing growth potential across various industries.
Recently, the Portuguese government eased rent increase caps and streamlined eviction processes for delinquent tenants, prompting strong backlash. Spain also faced large protests as it attempted pension reforms. This highlights the limits of a societal structure that has relied solely on welfare benefits while ignoring market principles.
Welfare expansion and regulation-heavy policies, lacking productivity improvements, weaken national competitiveness and ultimately threaten the lives of citizens with inflation and housing crises.
While large-scale protests have not erupted in South Korea, the country faces similar challenges. Local governments are competing with welfare promises that backfire, a real estate market hindered by regulations and artificial interventions, price policies dependent on corporate goodwill, and various regulations constraining businesses, all echoing the European experience. Youth employment instability and declining public sector efficiency mirror the realities in Europe.
However, South Korea is currently benefiting from a booming semiconductor industry, which masks underlying economic weaknesses and structural flaws. The substantial foreign currency earnings create an illusion of a healthier economy. Yet, all celebrations must eventually come to an end, and the more extravagant the celebration, the harder it is to clean up afterward.
Once the semiconductor growth, which has been a stabilizing force, ceases, the hidden crises of inflation, housing difficulties, and deteriorating public finances will erupt, leading South Korea to experience the same turmoil and regression that Europe is currently facing.
More concerning is that despite possessing the advantages of K-culture and advanced industries, South Korea's diplomatic and security standing is wavering. Amid unsettling movements from North Korea, China, and Russia, South Korea's presence is diminishing. In a tense international security landscape, our voice is becoming quieter.
Considering that economic strength equates to national power, it suggests that South Korea's economic resilience is not what it once was. While the semiconductor sector has inflated the economy's appearance, the underlying substance is lacking. If this continues, the country cannot avoid the adverse effects of diplomatic isolation and diminished international influence.
What we need now is to break free from the illusion of a 'semiconductor boom' and objectively improve our economic fundamentals. We must boldly reform welfare policies that distribute resources indiscriminately and regulatory frameworks that distort the market, while fostering corporate investment and enhancing productivity through structural reforms.
The large-scale protests in Europe are not merely distant events. If we do not expedite fundamental reforms before the golden opportunity presented by the semiconductor industry passes, Europe's present could very well become our future.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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