D-21 for Presidential Contender Lee Nak-yeon... Drafting a New Welfare Blueprint

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The outline of Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, for the presidential election strategy is becoming visible.

Lee, who served as the first Prime Minister of the Moon Jae-in administration in May 2017, is praised for his stable leadership and his calm response during the COVID-19 crisis, leveraging the crisis management skills he developed as Governor of Jeollanam-do during the 2014 Sewol Ferry disaster and the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak. Known for frequently using words like "cautious" and "stern," Lee has earned trust and even when he rose to the top spot as the next presidential candidate a year ago, he refrained from speaking much, saying "it is not yet appropriate."

However, with about three weeks left in his term, he has recently been emphasizing his presence, criticizing Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's basic income proposal by saying "there is no place that does it except Alaska," and raising his voice against opposition party lawmakers who called President Moon's actions treasonous, saying "they have crossed the line." This is a stark contrast to his previous tendency to avoid controversies.

Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the on-site Supreme Council meeting held on the 17th at Seoul Bio Hub in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

To run as a presidential candidate, Lee must resign from his position as party leader by March 9. The Democratic Party is already considering the next party leader. Amid this, Lee's proposed "New Welfare System" is drawing attention as a future national vision for the next presidential candidate. For Lee, this is effectively his first presidential campaign move and political vision announcement.

Lee's New Welfare System follows the basic livelihood security system of the Kim Dae-jung administration, the expanded welfare budget for the low birthrate and aging society under the Roh Moo-hyun administration, and the Moon Jae-in Care of the Moon administration.

Lee shared this vision with party lawmakers during a lecture on the 17th hosted by the National Assembly research group "Innovative Inclusive Nation Future Vision." The New Welfare System is concretized as "National Living Standards 2030," which provides customized welfare by social class. The policies proposed so far include paying child allowances up to age 18 and implementing mandatory education for five-year-olds starting in 2025 to reduce educational disparities.

The lecture highlighted the sense of crisis that social polarization caused by COVID-19 threatens national sustainability and emphasized the philosophy that to overcome this, the concept of an innovative inclusive nation must be inherited and elevated as "National Living Standards 2030."

Kim Yeon-myeong, former senior secretary at the Blue House who is credited with shaping the welfare theory framework of the Moon administration, supported Lee's New Welfare System during the lecture, saying, "It is time for a new social policy paradigm."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.