Lee Jae-myung Announces 10 Key Pledges to Realize Economic Powerhouse by Focusing on AI

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, has put forward the realization of an economic powerhouse through the concentrated nurturing of new industries, including artificial intelligence (AI), as a major election pledge.

The Democratic Party's election campaign committee announced on the 12th that it had submitted these 10 key pledges to the National Election Commission.

Under the theme of 'Leading Economic Powerhouse in the World,' the Democratic Party has set a goal to leap to the top three in AI and plans to increase the proportion of the AI budget to above the level of advanced countries.

Among the economic and industrial pledges, they proposed to protect the rights and interests of general shareholders by introducing a duty of loyalty for shareholders and improving corporate governance through amendments to the Commercial Act.

The political and judicial pledges under the theme of 'Strong Democracy' emphasized overcoming internal strife and restoring the status of K-democracy.

It also includes strengthening democratic control over the president's martial law authority and enhancing direct democracy through measures such as the national recall system for members of the National Assembly.

In particular, the pledges include completing judicial reforms such as strengthening judicial control over the separation of investigation and prosecution, preventing abuse of prosecutorial power, introducing a prosecutor disciplinary dismissal system, and expanding the number of Supreme Court justices.

In the healthcare sector, regarding solutions to resolve confusion in the medical field, they stated, "We will promote genuine healthcare reform desired by the public through the 'Public Participation Healthcare Reform Deliberation Committee.'"

Additionally, they proposed securing regional, essential, and public healthcare personnel by establishing regional medical schools, regional medical colleges, and public medical academies.

In the labor sector, the pledges include amending Articles 2 and 3 of the Labor Union Act, known as the 'Yellow Envelope Act,' to guarantee bargaining rights for subcontracted workers, among others.

They also announced plans to reduce working hours to below the OECD average by 2030, supporting the implementation of a 4.5-day workweek at the government level.

The environmental and industrial pledges under the theme of 'Responding to the Climate Crisis for Future Generations' include enacting the Carbon Neutral Basic Act, closing coal-fired power plants by 2040, and creating RE100 (100% renewable energy use) industrial complexes.

Noh Jeong-dong, Hankyung.com Reporter dong2@hankyung.com