By Lee Hana
The government on Dec. 12 announced plans to transform the country into an innovative and inclusive nation by 2045 by upholding the four main values of inclusiveness, innovation, fairness and peace.
The Presidential Commission on Policy Planning (PCPP) and the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences announced the plans at the Grand Hilton Seoul, outlining the necessary tasks to turn the government's vision into reality.
The vision of an inclusive and innovative country is one of the major goals of the Moon Jae-in administration.
"In the 100 years since Korea established its provisional government in 1919, the country has transitioned from being a colony, a divided country and a developing nation to a neoliberal developed country. These changes show our society's development as well as the limitations of each period," said PCPP Chairman Jung Hae Gu in his opening speech.
"Being a neoliberal developed country has incurred several negative results like social polarization. Considering recent protectionist trends and the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we decided to push for an innovative and inclusive state."
The vision as announced by the PCPP included 22 tasks for four goals: ensuring a stable and dignified life for all, securing growth engines, running a democracy based on governance and decentralized power, and creating a sustainable environment.
For society, the commission proposed increasing public spending and stabilizing social security and safety networks, as well as measures to tackle the low birth rate, the rapidly aging population and gender equality and innovate higher education.
For politics, measures were discussed to increase civic participation for a more people-centric democracy and promote self-governing bodies and balanced growth.
To create a sustainable environment, the commission proposed recycling resources to achieve a circular economy and turning to clean and renewable energy sources moving forward.
The "2045 vision for an innovative, inclusive nation" was announced as part of President Moon's policy initiative to build an inclusive country and achieve inclusive growth. Last year on Sept. 6, he tasked the PCPP with creating a long-term road map to systematically and coherently carry out the initiative.
hlee10@korea.kr