편집자 주     본지에서는 전세계 외국인 독자들을 대상으로 한국의 역사와 문화를 정확하게 소개하기 위해 김정기 변호사의 칼럼을 영문판으로 연재를 시작합니다.

한국의 역사와 문화에 관심있는 전 세계인들에게 도움이 되길 바랍니다.

한국어 독자들은 한국어로 번역된 화면이 보이므로 반드시 사이트 상단에서 원문보기로 설정하셔야 영문판으로 보실수 있습니다.

 

 

☆김정기 총장 주요 약력☆
 
● 학력
- 뉴욕주립대학교(StonyBrook) 정치학과 수석졸업
- 마케트대학교(Marquette) 로스쿨 법학박사
- 하버드대학교(Harvard) 케네디스쿨 최고위과정
- 베이징대학교(Peking) 북한학 연구학자

 
● 경력
- 제8대 주상하이 대한민국 총영사(13등급 대사)
- 2010 상하이엑스포 대한민국관 정부대표
- 아시아태평양지방정부네트워크(CityNet) 사무국 대표
- 세계스마트시티기구(WeGO) 사무국 사무총장
- 밀워키지방법원 재판연구원 
- 법무법인 대륙아주 중국 총괄 미국변호사
- 난징대학교 국제경제연구소 객좌교수
- 베이징대학교 동방학연구원 연구교수
- 국민대학교 정치대학원 특임교수
- 동국대학교 경영전문대학원 석좌교수
- 숭실사이버대학교 초대 총장

 
● 저서
- 대학생을 위한 거로영어연구[전10권](거로출판사)
- 나는 1%의 가능성에 도전한다(조선일보사)
- 한국형 협상의 법칙(청년정신사)
- 대한민국과 세계 이야기(도서출판 책미듬)

(NewsKorea=Seoul) Digital News Team = Korea Story 26 - <Society and Welfare 2  by Atty Jeong-kee Kim>

● Let’s practice compassionate conservatism toward socially vulnerable groups.

Every country has socially vulnerable groups. Vulnerable Social Groups are those who, compared to other groups, have various conditions that make them in need of protection from the state and society. This includes children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. However, according to laws and regulations, the definition of vulnerable groups is surprisingly diverse.

Those receiving treatment for congenital or incurable diseases, unemployed women who serve as heads of households, and refugees from foreign countries can also be considered socially vulnerable. Including foreign workers, many of them are vulnerable, and the state and society need to actively protect them. Rather than vague emotional protection, various laws and institutional policies should be established.

In addition, there is a need to strengthen and expand ‘social services’ for socially vulnerable groups. 'Social services', which are also specified in the 'Basic Act on Social Security', provide all citizens who need help from the state, local governments, and the private sector in areas such as welfare, health care, education, employment, housing, culture, and the environment, as specified in the law. It guarantees a humane life and supports the improvement of the quality of life of the people through counseling, rehabilitation, care, provision of information, use of related facilities, capacity development, and social participation support. 

As the government creates a system and deploys manpower to identify vulnerable groups, it is necessary to make efforts to provide service support and case management tailored to each individual's characteristics so that the identified people can escape from the vulnerable group. Because the standards for judging vulnerable groups vary depending on the social environment and historical background, it is difficult to provide help to the vulnerable groups by setting a single standard. For this reason, many blind spots occur in the field of employment and welfare policies. If these blind spots are not reduced, the social costs will ultimately come back as a burden of public assistance. When blind spots in unemployment benefits occur, the number of working poor increases, which increases the cost of basic livelihood security and increases tax expenditures. So what kind of solution should we find?

First of all, it is necessary to implement highly efficient and selective welfare policies. We must contribute to reducing public assistance in the long term by establishing a strong social security and social safety net, expanding social security for part-time and non-regular workers, and establishing a safety net through social insurance support and exemptions. Strengthening family-friendly welfare programs is also an important task. We must strengthen social sharing of childbirth, childcare, and childcare costs and establish a labor market system that guarantees work-family balance. 

National and local governments have established policies to actively protect vulnerable groups in welfare blind spots, such as setting special investigation periods and promoting outreach welfare services. Despite these efforts, controversies persist. To solve the issue of welfare blind spots, securing supporting funds is essential, and additional funding is required to support many people. It is also necessary to build an efficient welfare delivery system to ensure support reaches those who genuinely need it. Since welfare resources are limited, the best solution is to use these resources appropriately. In this regard, transitioning from universal welfare policies to selective welfare policies to reduce welfare costs and increase efficiency, or avoiding universal welfare policies that provide benefits to the wealthy, while focusing resources on supporting low-income and vulnerable groups, is necessary to reduce the burden of welfare funding and improve policy efficiency.

Another way is to link welfare and work so that people in welfare blind spots can become self-reliant in the long term. Our country has a structure in which all benefits are received when a basic security recipient is selected, but if the conditions are not met, all benefits are lost. Therefore, once selected as a beneficiary and receive benefits, there is a high tendency to remain as a beneficiary rather than looking for a job, and the incentive to work is also low. This requires urgent improvement as it is a waste of production resources at the national level and may also cause an increase in the burden of welfare costs. Although it is important to select and support those who are in welfare blind spots, it is also important to establish a work welfare linkage system so that they can get jobs and solve poverty rather than remain as beneficiaries. This shift in welfare paradigm will be an important stepping stone in building a sustainable welfare system. We must strengthen measures to organically link the receipt of welfare benefits for people with the ability to work with their work, and focus on employment and vocational education services.

Additionally, creating an environment that fosters job creation through the relaxation of employment and corporate regulations is necessary. This supports employment-linked welfare by helping the poor achieve self-reliance through work. For this system to be successfully established, an environment must be created where the poor can find suitable jobs. Korea’s economy has been stagnant with low growth for a long time, and regulations that hinder business and economic development, including direct employment regulations, have increased, making job creation challenging. Reducing labor and corporate regulations could provide a path for businesses to create jobs and address welfare blind spots.

As a welfare state, it is essential to actively protect these individuals to maintain their human dignity. However, there is also concern that excessive dependence on state and social welfare benefits might lead to a lack of motivation or laziness, with individuals failing to show a willingness to improve their situation. Appropriate policies must be established to address these issues. Additionally, addressing population decline and related issues, such as the problems of defectors from North Korea and foreign workers, could be linked to unification issues. Detailed consideration should be given to the establishment of an immigration agency and effective labor policies, minimum wage regulations, and educational policies related to foreign workers. Expanding social welfare policies for vulnerable groups within the budgetary limits would have significant positive effects on Korea’s capabilities and international stature.

Socially vulnerable groups are not fixed. Anyone can become vulnerable at any moment. The younger generation is experiencing significant pain due to a grim reality and uncertain future. It is not a recent phenomenon that they have given up on employment, relationships, marriage, childbirth, home ownership, and interpersonal relationships, leading to the so-called ‘5-po era’ or ‘7-po era’. They may also be considered part of the socially vulnerable groups. We must actively help the weak and build a compassionate society full of mutual support. This is the ultimate goal for Korea to achieve as a welfare state.

☆ Author:  Atty Jeong-kee Kim ☆

● Education
- Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Summa Cum Laude, State University of New York at Stony Brook
-  Doctor of Jurisprudence, Marquette University Law School
- Senior Executive Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
- Research Scholar in North Korean Studies, Peking University

● Experience
- Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai
- Commissioner General for the Korean Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo
- CEO, Asia-Pacific Local Government Network for Economic and Social Development (CityNet)
- Secretary General, World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization(WeGO)
- Law Clerk, Milwaukee Circuit Court, USA
- Senior Attorney-at-Law, Dr & Aju LLC
- Distinguished Visiting Professor, World Economy Research Institute, Nanjing University
- Research Professor, Institute of Oriental Studies, Peking University
- Distinguished Professor, Graduate School of Political Science, Kookmin University
- Chair Professor, Graduate School of Business, Dongguk University
- First President of Soongsil Cyber University

● Publications
- Georo English Studies Series for College Students [10 volumes] (Georo Publishing)
- I Challenge the Possibility of One Percent (Chosun Ilbo)
- The Art of Negotiation (Cheongnyonneongsin Publishing)
- Korea and the World (Chekmidum Publishing)