South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun warned that universal basic income was “impossible” to implement, drawing a sharp contrast with other populist contenders for the presidency ahead of an election next year.
In an interview with Bloomberg News on Wednesday, Chung said that “politics based on populism” is “bound to fail.”
The idea of across-the-board income support to address inequality has been backed by others in South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s camp aiming to replace him when his single, five-year term ends in a little more than a year.
Photo: Bloomberg
“There is no country on the face of Earth that has successfully carried out a universal basic income system,” Chung said. “Populism disables decisionmakers from making reasonable decisions. It may appear good for a while, but eventually people will regret it.”
Chung said that South Korea does not have the resources necessary for universal basic income and would need to scrap all existing welfare benefits to make it work.
He called for taxpayer funds to be targeted at those who have suffered the most economic damage from the COVID-19 pandemic through stimulus checks or a “loss-compensation” plan.
The political veteran has seen his fortunes rise after the country was able to put a lid on COVID-19 faster than many developed nations, helping it post some of the strongest economic numbers in the pandemic era.
Moon said that he expects the economy to rebound to pre-pandemic levels in the first half of this year.
Born in 1950, the year the Korean War broke out, Chung grew up in poverty, and worked for a major company before joining the political ranks, where he embraced liberal positions backed by pragmatic approaches.
While Chung declined to comment on whether he was running for president, a survey last month ranked him as a prominent contender to replace Moon.
Moon’s approval rating was hovering near its lowest level since he took office in 2017, according to a Realmeter tracking poll released yesterday.
While his government has won support for its virus control, Moon has seen his support erode among a public that has criticized him for not doing enough to rein in runaway real-estate prices and narrow an income inequality gap that ranks among the highest in the developed world.
Chung, who has also served as speaker of the South Korean National Assembly and as a Cabinet minister, backed a strict no-lockdown strategy that relied on rapid testing, contact tracing and quarantines at the border.
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