Korea's economy is all beleaguered...Will there be an exit for political turmoil?

■ Host: anchor Lee Hyun-woong
■ Starring: commentator Lee Jong-soo

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN24] when quoting.

[Anchor]
This time, let's look at our economy in the new year. Commentary Lee Jong-soo is here. Welcome. It's a new year. If you think about our economy, I think anxiety and worry must have been ahead of the hopeful content. There are many causes, but can the damage caused by the political turmoil be considered great?

[Reporter]
That's right. I have to tell you my hope for the new year. The won-dollar exchange rate soared last year due to the impeachment and martial law. The domestic stock market has boomed worldwide.Ma was alone in the recession. First of all, if you look at the won-dollar exchange rate, as you can see, last year's closing price was 1427.3 won. It was a difficult time for the whole nation in 1997. It was the highest in 27 years since the financial crisis.

And the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indexes fell below the 2,400 and 680 levels, respectively. Compared to the beginning of the year, the KOSPI index fell 9.6% and the KOSDAQ index plunged 22.7%. The Nasdaq, the Nikkei, as you can see, have boomed. The bad report card of our stock market was that out of 87 indexes in the Asia-Pacific region, the KOSPI ranked 79th, followed by the KOSDAQ 86th. We accepted the worst report card.

[Anchor]
You just mentioned the exchange rate, but doesn't it make it very difficult for companies to fluctuate like this?

[Reporter]
That's right. Raw materials, and small and medium-sized enterprises that need to import raw materials, are literally screaming. Large companies are also building factories in the United States, so it's bound to be a super emergency. If you look at the business experience and economic outlook graphic, you can see it.If it's below 100, it's very bad, but it's down to 85, and this bad economy has continued for 34 months now.

After 50 years of research, companies have never experienced such a bad economy for 34 months.
So companies are also making bad noises right now, but in the case of large companies, 61% of the respondents said they would tighten this year. It's a frustrating situation.

[Anchor]
The export outlook is dark and concerns about a slowdown in domestic demand are quite high, so will it continue? [Reporter] I think the domestic demand will accelerate. There's political chaos right now. Then there was the Muan plane disaster, wasn't there? As a result, consumer sentiment, which has already shrunk, is bound to shrink further. If you look at last month's consumer sentiment, it was 88. However, the drop fell by 12 points compared to the previous month.

So it was influenced by martial law and impeachment. This fall is the biggest since March 2020, i.e. the COVID pandemic.

[Anchor]
I'm also very curious about overseas views on our economy, but what is the impact on external credit?

[Reporter]
Now, about 70 foreign media companies have asked the Constitutional Court to cooperate to cover the impeachment of President Yoon. That's how much interest is being paid to our political situation, and the consistent and common reports of major foreign media are increasing political turmoil. As a result, the negative impact on the economy is growing.

If you look at a few representative places, the political turmoil that began with the Wall Street Journal and martial law is growing. Shall we watch the British Guardian? The South Korean National Assembly has become a venue for a bitter fight over the country's political future. In addition, the AP cited a Korean expert, but Korea's international credibility will decline.

And negative effects are expected to appear quietly and widely in all fields, including economy and culture. I'm reporting on these concerns.

[Anchor]
Now, there are slightly different movements in politics than before, so can we say that a breakthrough will be made?

[Reporter]
Acting Constitutional Court justice Choi Sang-mok, who is realizing the current economic crisis more than anyone else, finally came up with a compromise yesterday when he appointed two of the three constitutional judges, who are responsible for the National Assembly, right? Shall we listen to the comments?

[Reporter]
So there are eight constitutional judges, aren't there? In the meantime, there have been 13 cases of impeachment of the president and the prime minister by six judges of the Constitutional Court, and there have been controversies over whether this is justified or reliable, but this has been resolved. However, the ruling party expressed strong regret and criticized Choi for giving in to the threat of impeachment, and this morning, high-ranking officials, including the chief of staff, expressed their intention to resign to Choi. It's a protest.

However, in the case of the Democratic Party of Korea, even though it is unconstitutional to appoint selective judges, didn't it say that it would refrain from impeaching acting Choi for now? So, the impeachment has been stopped, but it is expected that the push-and-pull between Acting President Choi and the ruling and opposition parties will continue strongly in the future over major issues.

[Anchor]
It is a difficult situation due to such a variety of situations, so it seems that citizens and the public will continue to criticize the political turmoil.

[Reporter]
That's right. Isn't it true that a large number of people have felt hopeless about the political turmoil caused by the sudden declaration of martial law? So who on earth is going to fix the situation, or who is going to build it up. The people are watching this now.

In this way, do we refrain from constitutional amendment and populist policies that can change the harmful effects of the imperial presidential system? Also, how to liquidate such things as blind fandom, isn't the voice of such political reform continuously growing from all walks of life and such demands are being made now by political elders? The political community should reflect the will of our people well. In fact, the people have overcome both the IMF and the financial crisis.

It was politicians who brought this incident on themselves, and politicians may fail, but our people have never failed, right?

[Anchor]
Since the Korean people have shown strength many times, we will look forward to moving on wisely this time. This is the end of the talk with commentator Lee Jong-soo. Thank you.