The familiar dispute over who should bear the costs of providing welfare services for free has reemerged ahead of the National Assembly's approval of next year's government budget.
The trigger for the latest dispute came last week when Gov.
Hong Joon-pyo of South Gyeongsang Province, a southern province on the peninsula, announced he would stop funding free school lunch programs in the province after the local education office refused to undergo an inspection of its spendings on the program, calling it "interference."
The idea of "free welfare," or universal welfare, has long been a trademark policy of the liberal opposition camp. The conservative ruling party has called for "selective welfare" tailored to the needs of different income groups.
One of President Park Geun-hye's welfare pledges during the 2012 presidential campaign was to provide free childcare services for all children between the ages of three and five.
On Sunday, however, Park's office declared that the free childcare program must be funded by local governments and education offices under relevant laws.
The main opposition party, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), accused Park of breaking her campaign pledge and demanded the government fill the gaps in local budgets.
The opposition party also revealed plans to cut back about 5 trillion won from next year's budget earmarked for projects pushed by the Park administration in order to spend it on providing free childcare services and school lunches.
Rep. Lee One-koo, the ruling Saenuri Party's floor leader, apologized Monday for the renewed controversy.
"I apologize to the people over the 'free (welfare) shower' seen in various elections," he said during a party meeting.
"Children's welfare issues, such as free school lunches and support for childcare services, have recently fallen into chaos due to a dispute among adults."
Lee called for a joint solution to the issue, saying the central and regional governments as well as education offices should draw up measures to handle their diminishing budgets and growing welfare expenditure.
Rep. Moon Hee-sang, NPAD's interim leader, proposed an increase in taxes as a solution to the problem.
"In order not to abandon neither free childcare nor free school lunches, the only solution is to raise taxes," he said during a party meeting.
He also called for creating a task force comprised of experts and organizations affiliated with each party to come up with ways to raise the necessary finances. (Yonhap)
