Study into announced governance tasks shows most promises on welfare and the economy to have been reduced or left out altogether

By Um Ji-won, staff reporter

President Park Geun-hye omitted or backtracked on nearly half the key pledges from her election campaign in her list of governance tasks for the new administration, a study suggests.

The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) announced analysis on Feb. 28 that examined how many pledges were reflected in the five governance goals and 140 governance tasks devised by Park's transition committee. The study found that 70 of them, or 47%, were absent or had been "reduced" from their original form.

These included all pledges associated with real estate, as well as 62% related to the economy, 47% related to politics, 36% related to social issues, and 24% related to reunification.

In the case of real estate, where the five main pledges were reduced or omitted completely, CCEJ said that the platform was "transformed into governance tasks aimed at shoring up the real estate bubble rather than achieving stability in housing for the working class."

The organization also found 10 out of 27 pledges omitted or reduced in the area of economic democracy - already the subject of some controversy after being conspicuously absent from the governance goals announced by the transition presidential committee. The full omission had to do with permitting the building of new super supermarkets in smaller cities with the consent of a local consultative group. Nine other pledges, including the establishment of a punitive damage system for Fair Trade Act violations, were included in reduced forms.

Eight out of 18 core pledges were also missing in the area of jobs, the CCEJ claimed, with all policies related to temporary workers - including granting full-time status for those in the public sector and providing inducements for corporations to do the same - deleted from the governance tasks.

In the area of politics, seventeen out of 43 pledges were removed and three watered down. According to the study, political reforms such as the abolishment of the political party president system and legislation of a national primary were absent, as were policies for prosecutorial reform, decentralization of authority, and balanced development.

"The permanent special prosecutor system was supposed to be the 'Park Geun-hye pledge' par excellence," said CCEJ. "Seeing that omitted makes you worry that she's already bowing to the prosecutors."

The civic organization also found two out of 28 key pledges on public health and welfare issues omitted, and another eight diluted.

"During her campaign, President Park made welfare a key part of her platform, including the introduction of a basic pension and guaranteeing 100% health insurance coverage for four major categories of illness," it said.

"But after she was elected, she ended up being caught up in a controversy over raising taxes, and all of the welfare expansions she promised initially have been scaled back."

Ko Gye-hyeon, CCEJ's secretary-general, criticized Park for "abandoning key pledges without making any concrete efforts."

"She needs to put her pledges into practice, if only to present us with a new, concrete road map," Ko said.

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