By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
The two leading presidential candidates ― the Grand National Party's (GNP) Lee Myung-bak and Chung Dong-young of the United New Democratic Party (UNDP) ― stand at opposite ends of the field with their main pledges.
They also differ in style when it comes to attracting voters.
While Chung is well-known for being an eloquent speaker and his well-groomed appearance have won him recognition, Lee is the figure who tries to approach supporters by explaining his experiences and pledges rigorously with less-than-fluent speech skills.
Some say their distinctly different pledges in many sectors reflect their contrasting speech styles and ideologies while trying to push giant projects during their past tenure as a former Seoul mayor (Lee) and a former unification minister (Chung).
The two presidential nominees sharply differ over economic issues.
Lee emphasizes easing the tax system and regulations on businesses, while Chung is focused on maintaining the basic tax system, prohibiting cross-shareholding by large companies and promoting fair competition.
Chung and Lee share the view that top priority should be given to the economy in the next government, reflecting voters' opinion.
Where they differ most is in their North Korea policies. Chung is stressing peaceful inter-Korean cooperation, as represented by the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, to the degree that he has taken to calling himself ``Gaeseong Dong-young.''
Chung has expressed his desire to follow the tone of former President Kim Dae-jung's ``people's'' government and incumbent President Roh Moo-hyun's ``participatory'' government. Both leaders favor denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of a peace regime.
Chung has proposed to build an inter-Korean economic community. His campaign pledges include the establishment of a triangular economic zone linking Gaeseong, Haeju and Incheon, the designation of industrial zones modeled after the industrial complex at Gaeseong, and the construction of an intra-Korea, inter-continental railway.
He is apparently aiming to shape his competition with Lee into a contest between his economic policies, which focus on peace and inter-Korean economic cooperation, and Lee's ``Cold War'' economics.
Chung has criticized Lee's campaign pledges on education as a ``new type of discrimination favoring the privileged few,'' while promising to maintain the current educational system.
His plan is to strengthen students' creativity by providing free high school education and providing students with different kinds of education based on their academic level. He would solve the college entrance exam issue by restructuring universities and building more specialized schools.
While they appear to share some opinions such as the need to create more jobs, they disagree sharply on issues like ``growth versus redistribution,'' ``tax and real estate policies,'' and ``big development projects.''
Chung wants to model his government on welfare states like Sweden and Norway, while Lee looks to implement policies based on the American-style market economy.
Lee puts priority on growth in his campaign program ``Republic of Korea 7.4.7.'' He argues that the more the economy grows, the bigger the share the people will have. He envisages 7 percent growth for the next 10 years, increasing per-capita income to $40,000 by 2017, and becoming the 7th largest economic superpower.
In contrast, Chung contends that growth and distribution are like the two wheels of a bicycle and believes a growth-first economic policy is lopsided. Reflecting this, he envisages making 40 million people ``middle class.''
Chung's camp is critical of Lee's policy of seeking 7 percent growth. ``If we were to present our own figures, we would instead seek 6 percent stable and sustainable growth,'' a Chung aide said.
Lee pledges to cut taxes by 12.6 trillion won to breathe new vigor into enterprises. For example, he promises to reduce the maximum corporate tax to 20 percent from the current 25 percent.
Chung wants to make the most of tax. His camp says what is important is not cutting or increasing tax but how well we can save and use taxes. He envisions slashing unnecessary expenses by pushing for reform of the government, public corporations and public funds.
Based on his tax policy, Chung would increase taxes. For example, he stresses the need to introduce a transaction tax (0.1 percent) for financial derivatives, arguing that stock-rich people should pay more.
Lee's trademark policy is a cross-Korea canal. He envisages building the 540-kilometer canal by investing a total of 14 trillion won over four years. But the policy is under fire for being an outmoded idea dating back to the old era of development and for posing a danger to the environment.
As his alternative, Chung has set out a massive development plan dubbed ``N-shaped'' development of the Korean Peninsula. It envisages developing the peninsula along three belts shaped like the letter N ― the West Coast belt, the Seoul-Busan belt and the East Coast belt.
Lee vows to create more jobs through growth. He hopes to create 500,000 jobs over the next five years by fostering small and medium-sized innovative enterprises, plus 400,000 jobs during the construction of the canal and 300,000 more after construction is finished.
Chung has set a goal of creating a total of 2.5 million jobs over the next five years, 500,000 jobs annually.
kys@koreatimes.co.kr
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