Lee pledges subsidies for housing, schooling in bid for young voters

The Grand National Party's presidential candidate, Lee Hoi-chang, made a number of pledges Friday, hoping to win over younger voters in the December presidential election. Mr. Lee addressed worries of young families such as housing, child rearing, education and sex discrimination.

"We should strive to create a society where hard work is rewarded and people can be hopeful about what lies ahead in the next 5 or 10 years," Mr. Lee said at a policy forum sponsored by a party committee.

The candidate said that, if elected, his government would introduce policies to increase the housing supply and reduce prices, such as subsidizing builders who provide small apartment units. First-time home buyers would receive preference when buying small apartments. He also promised long-term mortgages at low interest rates for first-time buyers.

The National Housing Fund would support low-income households with limited assets, young couples and homeless people, Mr. Lee said.

He also said areas where small apartments are concentrated would be obligated to build day-care centers, which Mr. Lee said would be evaluated regularly.

Native speakers of foreign languages, particularly English, should be hired and assigned to teach in rural areas, he said. Mr. Lee added that he wants to train more people to use the Internet.

Mr. Lee said he wants to introduce a day-care voucher system to subsidize child-care costs for low-income working parents, but he admitted that the plan has its limits. "It is an unrealistic proposal, as there is a shortage of day-care facilities," he said. The candidate also said the government would provide free education to pre-schoolers.

Experts said most of the candidate's proposals are unrealistic, but Mr. Lee's camp argues that they can be realized if the government is able to secure 7 percent of Korea's gross domestic product for public education. That would be 43.4 trillion won. Korea currently spends 4.5 percent of GDP, or 28 trillion won, for public education.

Some conservatives criticized Mr. Lee for straying from his earlier pledges to lay the foundation for a sound government budget.

by Ko Jung-ae