[Donga Plaza] Current conditions suggest `DJnomics` has bogged down

The hero of the British movie ``Billy Elliot`` is an 11-year-old boy. But the person who was still lingering in my mind after seeing the film was the boy`s father Jacky Elliot. The reality the widowed coal miner living with his mother suffering from the Alzheimer`s disease and two sons was dismal. The Thatcher government condemns the miners` labor union, a stumbling block in the way of restructuring, as the ``internal enemy of the system,`` and the unionized workers launch a strike. Amid fears of eventual defeat and uneasiness about the future, Jacky joins the strike with his eldest son who is the union leader.

But the younger son, who should have practiced boxing, devotes himself to ballet to his father`s great disappointment. Acknowledging that he could never beat the desire of the young son who says he forgets himself while dancing, the father betrays his fellow workers and quits the strike to earn money for the future ballerino.

The old miner collapses with rage and sadness and he shouts to his eldest son: ``We will have to stay in this coal mine village, but Billy is different. He has the chance. We cannot strip Billy of the chance.``

There might be many fathers like the father in the movie. Since some time ago, such a movie scene has become a daily occurrence. The number of jobless again exceeded the psychological level of one million and the number of homeless people living on streets, even with their families, is increasing. In no time at all, people say that it is hard to find wage earners in their late 40s and 50s at offices and other workplaces. It was long time ago when the ratio of unstable employment like that of temporary workers among the total workers surpassed the level of 50 percent.

Nonetheless, the government insists that the rigidity of labor is still a problem. Foreign companies are still reluctant to advance into Korea because it is hard to lay off manpower easily. Layoffs have their logic in that they help strengthen the corporate competitiveness on the basis of a flexible labor market and attract foreigners` direct investment. By reviving the economy in this way, jobs will increase again to create employment eventually. This is the strategy to make the labor market flexible, one of the core policies of so-called ``DJnomics.``

However, it is almost impossible in Korean society for a dismissed worker to find a similar job at another company. It is also rare for workers to successfully change their occupation. Under this reality, flexibility in the labor market cannot but be understood as a soft statement for compulsory layoffs.

Of course, economic experts assert that making the labor market flexible is unavoidable in consideration of world market trends. They say that neither the country, nor companies can survive in a time of globalization if they lose competitiveness.

But it is urgent that the government should review whether the direction of reform, like the concept that ``restructuring equals massive layoffs`` was right. We have to scrutinize whether it is right for the nation to follow the American model without condition that does not match with our conditions, no matter how good the global standard is, and we can make it by doing so.

Unemployment is not simply a matter related to social security. It is the frustration of an individual and his or her family and their spiritual panic. Under these circumstances, the strategy to make the labor market flexible necessarily brings about hostile relations between labor and management and must invite opposition to the power of the policymaker. In this sense, it is not that surprising that some workers shout the slogan for the ``withdrawal of DJ (President Kim Dae-Jung)`` during their demonstrations.

The government said that the basic framework for reform in the four major sectors was completed by the end of February. The government meant that it would leave the economy to the ``democratic market`` and would push through restructuring at all times, and then everything would turn out for the good. President Kim ``praised himself,`` quoting the head of the International Monetary Fund`s office in Korea that the hitherto reform process could be given 90 points out of a possible 100.

But the evaluation of the IMF official could not but trigger the complaints of the ``socially weak:`` For what and for whom was reform carried out if the jobless now numbered more than 1 million. The government claims that seasonal factors played a role in having the number of the unemployed exceed the 1 million mark, so it will soon reduce. Yet, it has to listen to voices about the structural instability of the Korean economy repeating the crisis and restructuring. Adding salt to injuries is the deteriorating economies of the U.S. and Japan that exercise absolute influence on our economy.

Massive unemployment means the failure of economic policy. Calling that the ``Djnomics`` has failed may be severe to the incumbent government. But this is nothing, taking into consideration the pain of the jobless.

Chun Jin-Woo, Editorial writer

youngji@donga.com