President Lee Jae Myung says South Korea should learn from recent public protests in Europe and focus on sustaining economic growth. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, he links unrest abroad to broader economic pressures and warns that prolonged low growth can undermine social stability.
Lee points to factors highlighted by experts, including high energy and living costs, a stagnant economy, and accumulated inequality. He says low growth is a “most fundamental” driver of outcomes such as worsened youth unemployment, greater economic polarization, and weaker public finances, which he argues can fuel social conflict. The report also notes that the protests have swept multiple European countries, including France, Spain and Italy, amid concerns about rising living costs and inequality.
Across the coverage, the core message is the same: Lee uses Europe’s unrest as a reference point to stress sustaining growth at home. Korea Times provides more detail on the president’s stated reasoning, while Yonhap runs essentially the same account in a repeated lead/story format.
