I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
Assembly puts defense behind welfare
By Kang Hyun-kyung
The National Assembly scaled back the defense budget to set aside more financial resources to fight the negative fallout of the growing income gap between high- and low-income earners, Tuesday.
In the early morning, lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties passed the 342-trillion won ($321.73 billion) budget in an extended National Assembly plenary session. The initial deadline for budget approval is fixed for Dec.2.
The budget signals a tough road ahead for the Park Geun-hye government, which is to take over on Feb. 25. The incoming president will face the daunting job of balancing the rising demand for welfare programs with a security buildup amid intensifying territorial disputes in Northeast Asia.
Under the approved plan, about 30 percent of the budget will be spent on welfare programs. To set aside more financial resources for social policies and infrastructure building, the National Assembly cut the defense budget.
This will mean that several projects including the next generation fighter jet (130 billion won cut from the government proposal), long-range guided missiles (56.4 billion won cut), strike helicopter program (50 billion won cut) and the plan to upgrade capabilities of the Hyunmoo ballistic missiles (30 billion won cut), are to be either delayed or modified.
In total, the defense budget was cut by 500 billion from the government proposal.
The welfare budget increase at the expense of defense in Korea stands in stark contrast with its neighboring countries’ military buildup to better protect their security.
China and Japan have shown signs of strengthening their claims over disputed territories.
On Monday, local media in China reported that the Chinese government was mulling elevating the Maritime Safety Administration to ministry level in the face of growing calls to better handle territory disputes with neighboring countries, such as Japan.
The two governments’ clash over the uninhabited island of Senkaku or Diaoyu in the East China Sea has intensified over the past years.
China’s effort to intensify its claim over maritime territories would inevitably affect South Korea because the former insists that the submerged rock of Ieodo near the southernmost island of Marado is part of its territory.
Japan, meanwhile, is showing signs of shifting to the right after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took power. In an interview with the Sankei Shinbum, the new Japanese leader was quoted as saying that he would issue a statement on past affairs.
This will address changes to a statement issued by Tomiichi Murayama in 1995 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of World War II, which was seen as Japan’s official apology for colonial rule and war-time crimes.
Details of the statement were not known _ Abe said he would gather experts opinion first. During the campaign season, the rightist politician vowed to amend the so-called Murayama Statement.
The Jeju naval base project held back the inter-party negotiations on the budget proposal. Earlier, the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) agreed to pass the naval base budget (nearly 300 billion won) as it was proposed by the defense ministry. Some DUP members, however, belatedly demanded the scrapping of the project.
Negotiators of the ruling and opposition parties were able to reach an agreement calling for conditional implementation of the naval base project after overnight talks. Under the deal, the defense ministry should report to the National Assembly on the progress made on three conditions, including a review of whether 150,000-ton cruise ships will be able to enter the port, before implementation of the project.