hankyoreh

Yesterday, President Park Geun-hye seemed to apologize publicly for retreating on her election campaign pledge to provide a basic pension to all of the country’s elderly people. During a Sept. 26 cabinet meeting, she said she felt “sorry that it has come to this, being unable to give benefits to all of the elderly.” At the same time, she also said this was “not an abandonment” of her pledge as a presidential candidate and declared that she would “do all I can during the rest of my term to implement the things that were not implemented [this time].”

The form Park chose to deliver her “apology” is rather troubling. A personal apology to the public would be the very least she could do after completely backing off on her own promise for the welfare of the country’s elderly. And it is, after all, the public to whom she should be apologizing. The roundabout way she delivered her message - in closing remarks at a cabinet meeting - shows in a nutshell just how seriously she is taking this matter.

Her declaration to “do all I can during the rest of my term” may end up being yet another empty promise. Park said the pledges would be discussed by a “committee on public compromise” if there is a public consensus on implementing them. It comes across as a bit of a ploy to quiet criticisms: creating a new “compromise committee” to “discuss” whether or not the pledges will be honored. To make such a questionable promise and then claim that she is not abandoning her pledges is pure sophistry.

The government’s plan to pay benefits ranging from 100,000 won to 200,000 won (US$93-186) to the bottom 70% of earners over 65 is clearly different from what Park promised during the election campaign, which was a monthly 200,000 won payment to all senior citizens over 65. This is an abandonment of her pledge no matter how one looks at it.

Nor does it look like she fought very hard to keep her promise. A larger welfare budget is by no means out of the question - Park could roll back tax cuts on the wealthy, for example, and juggle social overhead capital investments. The economic conditions now are not much different from what they were when she made the pledge. If she’s giving up on it, it’s because she’s either unwilling or unable to keep it.

Back in January, the then president-elect said she “never announced a pledge without repeatedly going over how much it would cost and whether it was feasible.” The message was that her promises were based on solid planning. Yet many of the checks she wrote then have come back marked “insufficient funds” in the eight months since. Park may regard “trust” and “principle” as her golden rules, but both have come up well short in the keeping of her election pledges.

Another problem is the way she is leaning on the political opposition to assist her. She is now urging the National Assembly to cooperate across party lines on passing public welfare legislation, insisting that “reviving the economy and creating jobs is more than one President can do alone.” To see her demand the opposition’s cooperation without actually recognizing it as a partner in governance is exasperating. She is abandoning major pledges on one hand, while self-righteously demanding the opposition’s help on the other. This is no way to lead a country into the future.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]