Policies for Low-Income Bracket Neglected
By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
President-elect Lee Myung-bak's Presidential Transition Committee has been accused of not unveiling policies for middle and low-income earners.
Though Lee vowed a variety of policies for better public living conditions during his electoral campaign, his pledges have not being linked with tangible plans since his transition team was launched in late December.
His pledges include lowering taxes on oil products; reducing telecommunication fees; relieving credit delinquencies; easing private education costs; cutting drug prices; and lowering tolls on expressways.
In particular, the possibility that slashing oil taxes and telecommunication fees ― two of Lee's main pledges ― might not be realized is getting higher.
``There is no way for us to control telecommunication fees,'' transition team spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said. ``We plan to arrange measures in which mobile service operators will voluntarily lower the fees.''
Earlier, the team reiterated that it will put pressure on the country's three mobile service operators to lower their basic subscription fees, instead of guaranteeing them exclusive positions in the market.
The plan was to force the firms to cut or abolish the registration fee (30,000 won to 55,000 won) and the monthly basic fee (around 15,000 won) while not allowing new players to enter the mobile service industry.
During his campaign, President-elect Lee pledged that he would lower the telecommunication expense of Korean households by 20 to 30 percent.
But opinion has been divided on how the plan can be implemented. Some say that mobile phone charges should be left to supply and demand on the market. Others say that the government should play a more active role because in this manner deregulation may help firms further manipulate the situation.
Regarding oil-related taxes, a transition team official said, ``There will be no policy announcement to lower taxes on oil products until the transition committee disbands.'' The President-elect had vowed to lower oil-related taxes by 10 percent.
Lee's pledge to relieve 7.2 million credit defaulters has not also been set up.
Before the Dec. 19 presidential election, Lee said he would set up a seven trillion won fund to help credit delinquents recover financially sound ratings.
Lee said that if elected, he would establish a presidential body to help credit delinquents restructure their financial debts as well as micro credit banks to extend loans to those who are denied funding by banks and other financial companies.
The planned seven trillion won fund is roughly 5 percent of the government's ordinary annual budget of around 150 trillion won (2007 figures). But the transition team has fallen short of disclosing details of how the money will be raised and how it will be administered.