Park Geun-hye’s plan furthers welfare debate

Posted on : 2010-12-22 15:35 KST Modified on : 2010-12-22 15:35 KST
Some say Park has fallen short in showing the source of funding for her broad proposals

By Song Ho-jin

The “Park Geun-hye brand of welfare” is touching off a major debate. After the former Grand National Party chairwoman presented a welfare plan centered on providing tailored social services for each stage of life, opposition party lawmakers who have been calling for universal welfare described it as “empty vessel welfare” lacking in fundamental measures such as increased funding for welfare services.

In a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh on Tuesday, an adviser to Park said, “The ‘Korean-style life welfare’ presented by Lawmaker Park is not a finished plan, but it is very significant in that it has opened another chapter in the debate over what signifies true welfare.”

The gist of Park’s welfare platform as announced at the hearing would involve building a lifetime social safety net by providing social services for childcare, education, job training, public health, residence, and retirement to allow all South Koreans to escape the various dangers encountered at each stage of the life cycle. Park said this would be preventive welfare that moves away from the current system focusing on cash payments to low-income groups and expenditures focused on senior citizens, such as annuity insurance, and strengthens public services for every stage of life.

An associate said, “It would be possible to pursue equality of opportunity by preemptively improving human resources through services for each stage in the life cycle, including childcare and education services, while also reaping a job creation effect in the same areas.”

Opposition parties and civil society responded to Park’s plan by saying it was commendable for her to call for an expanded state role in welfare, such as increased social services.

Welfare State Society Co-representative Lee Sang-yi said, “The course of strengthening social services is a desirable one, and no one [in the opposition parties or civil society] who is calling for ‘dynamic welfare’ is likely to disagree.”

But critics are saying that it is not only unclear just what Park’s conception is, as no specific measures for “Korean-style life welfare” were presented, but that also she did not offer any alternatives on the question of welfare funding, which is inevitably raised with social services.

Jun Byung-hun, chair of the Democratic Party’s Policy Committee, called it a “hollow welfare policy in which Park presents no philosophy, vision, or alternative for increasing welfare funding even as she is essentially cooperating actively with the administration and ruling party’s policies of tax cuts for the rich.”

Lee Ji-yeong, chair of the New Progressive Party’s Policy Committee, said, “For Park to present merely a vision for a welfare state while keeping quiet on the absence of a welfare budget due to the railroading of the 2011 budget is not something the responsible leader of a major ruling party should be doing.”

Concerns about funding were also present in Park’s camp.

“Life cycle-tailored welfare services require a lot of funding, and we still aren’t confident about measures for arranging it,” said a pro-Park lawmaker.

Some critics are charging a mistaken diagnosis of welfare problems.

“Park says she first wants to move away from the focus on ensuring income [for low-income groups],” said Lee Sang-yi. “But not only does South Korea still have a lot of blind spots in terms of income security, but there has yet to be a substantive adjustment of the level of income security to reflect the reality.”

“She is reading the pulse of welfare issues incorrectly.” Lee added.

At the same time, opposition party lawmakers are expressing alarm about Park’s seizing of the welfare issue. A first-term Democratic Party lawmaker said, “While the opposition is working within and outside the National Assembly to defend against various issues presented by President Lee Myung-bak, it needs to prepare for Park Geun-hye behind him cementing policies in areas such as welfare and preparing for the presidential election.”

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

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