Yoon calls for proactive efforts to ease income, education inequality

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday called for efforts to address widening inequality in income and education in the latter half of his term, his office said.

Yoon emphasized the need to reduce social polarization during a meeting with senior aides as he entered the second half of his five-year presidency, presidential spokesperson Jeong Hye-jeon said in a written briefing.

“(The government) should make proactive efforts to tackle polarization, including inequality in income and education, in the remaining half of my term,” Yoon was quoted as saying.

While the government focused on laying the ground for boosting overall economy over the past 2 1/2 years, Yoon aims to set comprehensive policies aimed at improving the livelihoods of people, including measures to curb inflation and support for small business owners, and implementing them in a timely manner, according to his office.

“The government will refrain from directly providing cash handouts and instead adopt proactive measures to help underprivileged people to seize opportunities,” a senior presidential official told reporters.

Yoon also reiterated his commitment to advancing his reform initiatives in health care, pensions, labor and education in close coordination with the ruling People Power Party.