By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Under the motto of ``creative pragmatism,'' the new government is putting top priority on rationality and efficiency, regardless of ideological or theoretical differences.
Pragmatism is a most suitable word to define the Lee Myung-bak administration, which is inaugurated today.
Before he takes office, Lee and his presidential transition team set ``creative pragmatism'' and ``wide-ranging liberalism'' as his philosophical foundation to manage state affairs.
A former CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, President Lee also seeks an efficient and business-friendly environment to revive the economy.
In addition, Lee pledged to promote competition in which individuals can fully use their ability, and social minorities will get support from the government.
Lee and his transition team presented five major policy goals for national development.
As Lee won a landslide victory in the presidential race, based on hope for reviving the economy, he put economy-related issues on top of the list of tasks facing him.
The government will cut taxes to spur corporate investment and give incentives to foreign investors to encourage them to invest here.
The President also pledged to ease the regulations that ban non-financial players, especially family-run conglomerates here, from owning banks.
The Lee administration will implement deregulations by adopting a system under which all business activities are permitted to spur corporate investment, unless otherwise prohibited.
To expand employment, Lee promised to create 3 million jobs, especially for university graduates.
As new growth engines, he suggested nurturing the service and tourism industry as well as nano- and bio-technology.
Lee, a former mayor of Seoul, has stressed that human resources are essential to strengthen the nation's competitiveness.
The government will improve the public education system, while giving full autonomy to universities to help them select more talented students.
In particular, English education is a major target that the Lee government is trying to conquer.
It is considering increasing more English classes in elementary schools and recruiting English native speakers as teachers so that students can speak the language fluently by the time they graduate from high school.
The Lee administration also plans to provide life-long education programs to enable people to develop their abilities.
To prevent the students from giving up their academic careers because of financial difficulties, the government is set to offer more scholarships.
The administration is expected to take a harder stance toward North Korea-related issues, including dismantling its nuclear programs, as he has vowed not to send aid to Pyongyang unconditionally as the Roh Moo-hyun administration did. But he added he will try his utmost to create a peaceful atmosphere on the peninsula.
He said he will seek pragmatic diplomacy, while consolidating the alliance with the United States and other countries.
The government will map out measures to build an eco-friendly economic structure to meet international trends.
Under the name of energy diplomacy, Prime Minister-nominee Han Seung-soo will seek to expand cooperation with foreign countries so that Korean businesses can develop natural resources.
Lee is also considering building a Dubai-like port-business valley to attract foreign investors with deregulation and low taxation.
The government plans to offer more welfare services and also plans to take care of pregnant woman through financial support for their medical checkups and delivery.
For children from the low-income bracket, the administration plans to provide several support programs.
Additionally, so-called half-price apartments, which citizens can buy at about half of the housing price, will be introduced to lessen the burden on newly-weds.
The pension system will also be revised to help the increased number of pensioners.
First of all, the government will likely cut its budget by 10 percent to reduce expenditures.
As Lee has stressed that he will make a smaller but more efficient government, overlapping roles and government agencies have already been integrated into a more simple system.
He also underlined innovation of government organizations by promoting efficiency.