Policy Watch: Hong Joon-pyo maps out vision for welfare transformation
Hong Joon-pyo, the recently resigned Daegu mayor and a presidential contender for the conservative People Power Party's nomination, has unveiled a welfare reform plan titled 'Welfare Transformation 100+1.' Framing it as a shift from cash handouts to future generation empowerment, Hong emphasized opportunity over cash benefits, particularly for the vulnerable.
Central to Hong's plan is keeping welfare costs in line with economic growth. 'We'll set an appropriate welfare-to-GDP ratio so future generations aren't burdened and people can achieve economic independence,' he said.
Key pledges include expanding child subsidies from age 8 to 15 and creating 2 million public jobs for seniors. The basic pension will be restructured around income security, alongside a 'half-price hospital' system for the aged and a 'one-on-one senior care' initiative for 1 million older people living alone.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
17 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Could Lee Jae-myung avoid trials during presidency?
With the ruling Democratic Party of Korea set to push for an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act to postpone any criminal trials involving sitting presidents until they leave office, President Lee Jae-myung will likely be unaffected during his term by the ongoing criminal trials he faces. A total of five different criminal trials presented major challenges for Lee during his presidential campaign, allowing other candidates to question whether Lee was truly qualified to lead the country. Some in the legal community expected that the trials would remain hurdles for Lee even after the election as Article 84 of the Constitution -- which stipulates that the president cannot be criminally prosecuted while in office except in cases of insurrection or treason -- does not clarify whether this immunity extends to ongoing trials that began before the president took office. But the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, led by the Democratic Party, approved a revision to the Criminal Procedure Act in early May to prevent legal ambiguity. The ruling party is reportedly considering proposing the amendment in a National Assembly plenary session on Thursday. 'The Constitution guarantees the president immunity from prosecution in order to ensure stable governance. The Criminal Procedure Act also states that criminal trials fall under the definition of prosecution,' said Democratic Party Rep. Jeon Hyun-heui during the ruling party's Supreme Council meeting on Monday, claiming that the entire case needs to be suspended regardless of when it began. The Democratic Party added that the amendment is a legislative clarification introduced to avoid any conflict between constitutional immunity and the actual judicial process. The main opposition People Power Party condemned the liberal party's legal revision, calling the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Act a 'bulletproof law,' a self-interested measure aimed at granting immunity to the president. 'All are equal before the law. The presidency is not a position to escape trials that began before taking office,' said People Power Party interim leader Kim Yong-tae in a press conference held Sunday, asking whether President Lee is willing to attend a hearing in his trial for alleged election law violations scheduled on June 18. Kim criticized the proposed bills -- the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Act and a proposed expansion of the Supreme Court -- which he said the ruling party is attempting to ram through only for the benefit of the current president. In early May, the Supreme Court's Court Administration Office stated that the judges of each court will have to decide whether to stop or proceed with the trials by applying Article 84 of the Constitution to a criminal defendant who has been elected president. Meanwhile, the Seoul High Court announced Monday that the hearing in Lee's retrial on charges of election law violations, which was set to be held on June 18, will be postponed. 'The court has rescheduled the hearing date and will set a new date later. The decision was made after considering Article 84 of the Constitution,' the Seoul High Court said, without giving a new date for the hearing. Decisions about Lee's remaining criminal trials, in which the president is accused of subornation of perjury, corruption, illegal money transfers to North Korea and misappropriating public funds, are yet to be announced.
Korea Herald
18 hours ago
- Korea Herald
More than half of Koreans expect Lee to perform well: poll
But early approval trails that of his predecessors, regional gap remains sharp Nearly six out of 10 South Koreans believe President Lee Jae-myung will perform well in office, according to a poll released Monday. The survey, conducted by local pollster Realmeter on Wednesday and Thursday last week — shortly after the June 3 presidential election — found that 58.2 percent of respondents expect Lee to perform well. In contrast, 35.5 percent said they do not expect him to do well, while 6.3 percent said they were unsure. The poll was conducted among 1,012 adults aged 18 and older nationwide. While optimism outweighed concern, Lee's early approval is somewhat lower than that of his predecessors. In Realmeter's previous post-election surveys, 79.3 percent expressed a positive outlook for Lee Myung-bak (2008-2013), 74.8 percent for Moon Jae-in (2017-2022), 64.4 percent for Park Geun-hye (2013-2017) and 52.7 percent for Yoon Suk Yeol (2022-2024). Regional differences were also pronounced. Support for Lee was highest in Gwangju and the Jeolla provinces, traditional liberal strongholds, where 85.3 percent responded positively. In contrast, only 39.6 percent expressed optimism in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, the conservative bloc's strongholds. In the capital region, 57.6 percent of respondents in Seoul had a positive outlook, along with 59.9 percent in Gyeonggi Province and Incheon. By age group, support was highest among those in their 40s at 76.6 percent, followed by those in their 50s at 70 percent, 30s at 57.1 percent, 60s at 50.9 percent, and those 70 and older at 48.9 percent. The lowest support came from respondents in their 20s, at 41.3 percent. When asked what the new administration's top priority should be, 41.5 percent of respondents cited economic recovery and stabilizing livelihoods. Prosecution and judicial reform followed at 20.4 percent, then national unity and conflict resolution at 12.8 percent, political reform and bipartisan cooperation at 8.3 percent, and addressing low birth rates and aging population issues at 4.6 percent. In terms of party support, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea garnered 48 percent, up 1.2 percentage points from the previous poll. The conservative People Power Party recorded 34.8 percent, down 0.3 percentage points. Support for the New Reform Party stood at 5.8 percent, the Rebuilding Korea Party at 3.7 percent and the Progressive Party at 1.4 percent.
Korea Herald
a day ago
- Korea Herald
Over 58% of people expect Lee to do well on state affairs
Nearly six out of ten South Koreans expected President Lee Jae-myung to do well on state affairs, a survey showed Monday. In a Realmeter survey conducted on 1,012 adults last Wednesday and Thursday, 58.2 percent of respondents said they expected Lee to perform well on state affairs. In contrast, 35.5 percent said he would not perform well, the survey showed. The remaining 6.3 percent said they were unsure. The approval rating for the ruling Democratic Party rose to 48 percent, up 1.2 percentage points from the previous week. The People Power Party saw its approval rating slip to 34.8 percent, down 0.3 percentage point, widening the gap with the DP to 13.2 percentage points. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. Lee took office on June 4 following a snap election triggered by the ouster of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. (Yonhap)
