| Cost of Lawlessness Rampant Demonstrations Eroding Economy | ||||
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The rampant street demonstrations here have proved costly to our economy. According to the Korea Development Institute (KDI), the socioeconomic damage from some 10,000 demonstrations in 2005 amounted to seven to 12 trillion won. It is startling to know that the damage amounted 1.53 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005. Few people realized that demonstrations caused that much damage. Worrisome fact is that the culture of lawlessness has become deeply ingrained in our society. People tend to regard chaotic situations like illegal street demonstrations as just daily occurrences causing mere inconvenience. But the KDI analysis should serve to renew our awareness of the potential threat that demonstrations have on our society. The KDI revealed in another report earlier last month that if we had kept law and order to the average level of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) between 1991 and 2000, we would have achieved an additional 1 percent in economic growth for every year during that period. Now we have no choice but to accept how much wildcat strikes and street demonstrations have cost us. One percent of economic growth creates some 90,000 new jobs that would employ about one fourth of the country’s 340,000 jobless young people. But the amount of damage increases greatly when we consider the losses at industrial sites caused by illegal strikes. Hyundai Motor is a case in point. Last year the losses of the company due to crippling labor disputes amounted to as much as 1.6 trillion won. A group of shop owners in major streets of Seoul last October went so far as to hold a rally calling for the suspension of street demonstrations claiming they suffered huge losses from the street chaos. Another horrible fact is that the rampant street lawlessness lowers our overseas credibility and discourages foreign businesses from investing here. What matters is the deep-seated notion among people that the more violently they protest, the more likely their demands will be met. In many cases, it has proven true. However, the police have been lukewarm in blocking the street rampages, saying that demonstrations are part of the basic rights of people. Such a view is no longer justified at a time when the astronomic damage from the demonstrations has been established. The failure of government and businesses to stick to firm principles in dealing with violent protestors encourages them to repeat their illegal activities. The KDI report has shown us that the strict application of the law is important in rooting out rampant acts of lawlessness from our society. Breaches of the law by individuals or groups should no longer be tolerated. 02-02-2007 22:13 |
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