Moon Administration Accused of Manipulating Statistics

There is an editorial in the Joong Ang Ilbo that discusses how even liberal politicians are attacked by the Moon administration’s allies for not following the party line. The editorial also mentions how the Moon administration has been manipulating statistics which should be no surprise after the head of Statistics Korea was replaced for not producing government friendly statistics:

Finally, even statistics have turned into a magic tool to cover up the government’s repeated failures in real estate policy. Land Minister Kim Hyun-mee said that housing prices rose by 11 percent during the three years of the Moon administration, based on data from the Korea Appraisal Board, making a fool out of anyone who agrees with the neutral analysis by the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) that said home prices skyrocketed over 50 percent.

Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Hong Nam-ki said he would change the statistical methods that only covered new contracts to include renewed contracts after rental prices continue to skyrocket after the Aug. 4 real estate measures.

Two years ago, the Moon administration replaced the head of Statistics Korea after it produced data that showed failures of the income-led growth policy ardently pushed by the administration.

The international community always punishes a country that manipulates statistics. North Korea could not join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in 2015 due to its history of manipulating statistics, said Kim Byung-yeon, an economics professor at Seoul National University. Greece faced a national bankruptcy after manipulating statistics.

The powers that are working against common sense are based on the Moon loyalists’ firm belief that “our president has done nothing wrong.” Even North Korean leader Kim Jong-un admitted to his economic failures at a Workers’ Party meeting last week, even though he is the “supreme being without any error.” And yet, criticizing the Moon administration is prohibited, as the government presents statistics selectively. This weird situation is undeniable evidence that Korea’s democracy has regressed.

Joong Ang Ilbo

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