State's Policies Called 'Socialism in Essence'

Kim Mahn-je, chief policymaker of the Grand National Party, accused the government Wednesday of following socialist policies.

"The neoliberalism promoted by the ruling party is socialism in essence, with just a seasoning of market principles," Mr. Kim said in an interview with "Ohmynews," a Web site that posts stories written by non-professional citizens.

But unlike the past "ideology war," which focused on accusing individual persons of being leftist, Mr. Kim criticized the recent policies of the government and ruling party on education, press reform and social welfare.

Political watchers took Mr. Kim's remarks as attempt by the opposition to stake its future on a substantive conservatism, rather than a continuation of regional favoritism and political cronyism. His comments come against recent attempts by the ruling party to present itself as representing the interests of the middle and lower income classes.

Mr. Kim said that the Korean Tripartite Commission on Labor, Management and Government was an idea that originated in European socialism, and that the government had introduced it with a view to redistributing wealth.

He asserted that the Korea Teacher's and Educational Worker's Union is the most socialistic organization in Korea, since it advocates the revision of the Private School Act to allow the government a larger hand in such day-to-day school operations as recruiting teachers.

The plan to introduce a five-day work week catered to popular tastes, Mr. Kim said. And he charged that revision of the law to limit the ownership stake of any individual or group in a newspaper company to 30 percent was socialistic.

Members of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party reacted sharply.

Choo Mi-ae, a legislator, said Mr. Kim cannot "distinguish between socialism and social welfare."

The members of opposition party suggested that Mr. Kim's purpose was to sharpen the distinctions between the parties, at the same time casting the conservatives in a more positive light.

But some opposition party members expressed discontent at Mr. Kim's "unrefined"way of holding out his opinion.

by Lee Sang-il