It is fascinating to me, how opposite the political scene in South Korea is when compared to the current one in the United States. See what you think:
1. "South Koreas first vote on a social policy on Wednesday left in place a Seoul program providing free lunches for 810,000 elementary and middle-school students, a victory for the liberal opposition, which had urged a boycott.
2. Mayor Oh Se-hoon and his conservative ally, President Lee Myung-bak, urging more restraint in welfare spending, had called for voters to approve free lunches only for lower-income children, at an estimated savings of $100 million. The Liberal opposition urged supporters of universal free lunches not to vote, so the result would not be valid.
3. only 25.7 percent of the citys 9.4 million eligible voters had voted, lower than the 33.3 percent minimum, leaving in place the broad lunch program
4. South Koreans have grown increasingly distressed over the widening gap between rich and poor, while also worrying about the worlds fiscal crises, which officials here attribute in part to profligate welfare spending.
5. Mr. Oh, of the conservative governing Grand National Party, had played on the fiscal anxiety, contending that supplying free meals to all the schoolchildren would ruin the citys $19.1 billion budget. We must fight welfare populism; it will ruin the country, he said Sunday during a televised news conference, kneeling down tearfully to implore citizens to turn out for the vote.
6. Kwak No-hyun, the superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, who was elected on the liberal opposition ticket with a promise to provide all children with free lunches, argued that Mr. Ohs approach would divide our children into rich and poor. Its a crime to ask poor children to eat rice in humiliation, he said.
7. This is the first time welfare has become a real issue, said Jaung Hoon, a political scientist at Chung-Ang University in Seoul. Its a sign that South Korean politics are moving finally toward policy debates.
8. After 10 years in power, the liberals lost the 2007 presidential election to Lee Myung-bak, who attracted voters with the traditionally conservative values of economic growth, pro-business measures and a harder line toward North Korea. Then, in June last year, the liberal opposition made a dramatic comeback in local elections by highlighting the need for more comprehensive state welfare.
9. Today, South Korea has one of the fast-growing rates of income inequality among the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In a July survey by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, South Koreans cited income redistribution as the second most important political issue, after job creation.
10. President Lee, himself a rags-to-riches story, has not said how he voted, but he signaled his support for Mr. Oh when he too repeatedly warned against welfare populism. We must learn lessons from countries in southern Europe where populist welfare pushed the governments to the brink of bankruptcy, he warned during a radio speech on Monday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/world/asia/25korea.html
1. "South Koreas first vote on a social policy on Wednesday left in place a Seoul program providing free lunches for 810,000 elementary and middle-school students, a victory for the liberal opposition, which had urged a boycott.
2. Mayor Oh Se-hoon and his conservative ally, President Lee Myung-bak, urging more restraint in welfare spending, had called for voters to approve free lunches only for lower-income children, at an estimated savings of $100 million. The Liberal opposition urged supporters of universal free lunches not to vote, so the result would not be valid.
3. only 25.7 percent of the citys 9.4 million eligible voters had voted, lower than the 33.3 percent minimum, leaving in place the broad lunch program
4. South Koreans have grown increasingly distressed over the widening gap between rich and poor, while also worrying about the worlds fiscal crises, which officials here attribute in part to profligate welfare spending.
5. Mr. Oh, of the conservative governing Grand National Party, had played on the fiscal anxiety, contending that supplying free meals to all the schoolchildren would ruin the citys $19.1 billion budget. We must fight welfare populism; it will ruin the country, he said Sunday during a televised news conference, kneeling down tearfully to implore citizens to turn out for the vote.
6. Kwak No-hyun, the superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, who was elected on the liberal opposition ticket with a promise to provide all children with free lunches, argued that Mr. Ohs approach would divide our children into rich and poor. Its a crime to ask poor children to eat rice in humiliation, he said.
7. This is the first time welfare has become a real issue, said Jaung Hoon, a political scientist at Chung-Ang University in Seoul. Its a sign that South Korean politics are moving finally toward policy debates.
8. After 10 years in power, the liberals lost the 2007 presidential election to Lee Myung-bak, who attracted voters with the traditionally conservative values of economic growth, pro-business measures and a harder line toward North Korea. Then, in June last year, the liberal opposition made a dramatic comeback in local elections by highlighting the need for more comprehensive state welfare.
9. Today, South Korea has one of the fast-growing rates of income inequality among the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In a July survey by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, South Koreans cited income redistribution as the second most important political issue, after job creation.
10. President Lee, himself a rags-to-riches story, has not said how he voted, but he signaled his support for Mr. Oh when he too repeatedly warned against welfare populism. We must learn lessons from countries in southern Europe where populist welfare pushed the governments to the brink of bankruptcy, he warned during a radio speech on Monday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/world/asia/25korea.html
