President Yoon Directly Chairs Social Security Strategy Meeting
Orders 'Rational Consolidation' of Overlapping Welfare Projects
"Self-Centered Judgments Worse Than Those Who Take Bribes"
President Yoon Suk-yeol stated on the 31st, "Social security services must become marketized, industrialized, and competitive." He believes that if universal welfare shifts to service welfare, competition among service providers will establish a better welfare system. This emphasized the government's welfare philosophy and policy direction to achieve a sustainable welfare state vision, urging related ministries to establish a virtuous cycle system of 'welfare-employment-growth.'
On the morning of the same day, President Yoon presided over the 'Social Security Strategy Meeting' at the Blue House State Guest House, giving instructions by saying, "As social security services become competitive and marketized, and this industrializes, it will become an important factor in the growth and development of our society."
The meeting was organized to broadly gather opinions from experts in various fields on major social security policies. Experts and related ministries from committees such as the Social Security Committee, Low Fertility and Aging Society Committee, Child Policy Coordination Committee, Disability Policy Coordination Committee, Youth Policy Coordination Committee, Employment Policy Deliberation Committee, National Education Council, and the Reserve Integration Promotion Committee participated to discuss ▲welfare for the vulnerable ▲service welfare ▲and welfare finance innovation.
President Yoon emphasized, "Cash welfare should be selective welfare, welfare for the vulnerable," and "Universal welfare should preferably move toward social service welfare." This means balancing by providing more to those in greater need and slightly less to those in lesser need, which is the essence of universal welfare. The core idea is to expand this into competitive service welfare to draw out better services.
He added, "Social security that exceeds the scope, beyond the financial capacity we can bear, will erode our society itself," referring to appropriate growth and development. President Yoon further pointed out, "Simply distributing money uniformly and spending it like this is nothing but expenditure," and "It does not become a growth engine that contributes to growth."
President Yoon Suk-yeol is presiding over the Social Security Strategy Meeting at the Blue House State Guest House on the 31st. [Photo by Yonhap News]
Criticizing the current situation where social security services and welfare projects are scattered between central and local governments, he also ordered 'rational consolidation.' President Yoon said, "Even if we try to improve the productivity and quality of services, with so many types scattered, how can there be competition?" and added, "It needs to be simplified so that citizens can know 'what kind of services they can receive from the state.'"
He also addressed the 'Integrated Management Direction for Central Government Social Security Systems,' the system to manage this. The main point is to package and simplify complex systems for easy understanding, merge overlapping projects, and fill gaps to build a seamless social security system. They also discussed the 'Social Service Advancement Promotion Direction,' which expands social services focused on vulnerable groups to the middle class, creates good jobs through welfare technology, proactive regulatory improvements and investments, and fostering competitive conditions.
He urged cooperation among central and local governments and various ministries. President Yoon said, "Each ministry should collaborate to organize and control what can be controlled," and added, "Thinking that one cannot concede because the budget or authority handled by our ministry is reduced is not for the people but for self-interest." He further stated, "Judging from a self-centered, ministry-centered perspective is corrupt," and "I consider those worse than people who take bribes to be those kinds of people."
Meanwhile, following reports on each agenda, thematic discussions were held with experts and related ministry ministers and vice ministers on 'Welfare State Strategy and Integrated Management Direction of Social Security Systems' and 'Advancement Promotion Direction of Social Services in Care, Education, Employment, and Housing Fields.' A presidential office official explained, "The strategies discussed today will be consistently implemented across all ministries and local governments, with concrete plans prepared and executed centered on the Prime Minister and the Social Security Committee," adding, "They will form the foundation of the currently being established '3rd Basic Social Security Plan.'"
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