Category: Korean Government

The Korean government plans to raise the amount of money spent on Welfare in the country:

South Korea plans to raise its budget for welfare programs by more than 10 percent in 2015 from a year earlier in an effort to establish a better social safety net and revitalize the economy, the government and ruling party said Wednesday.

“The burden for the low-income bracket has been soaring due to the slowed economic recovery,” a Saenuri Party official said. “To ease such agony, we plan to raise the welfare budget by over 10 percent to between 118 trillion won (US$115.12 billion) and 120 trillion won.”

The increased rate for the welfare budget will hover far above the 5 percent rise slated for the combined state expenditure estimated for next year. It will also mark the first time since 2009 that the government has increased the welfare budget at a two-digit rate.

“We plan to push up the economy by lowering the burden for education, living and medical services, and setting up a social safety net, and expand expenditures on health, welfare and employment,” a government official said, adding the finalized plan, including detailed numbers, will be rolled out next week.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

I just don’t get why any South Korean would sympathize with North Korea and send threatening packages like this to ROK officials?:

A parcel containing a knife, suspicious powder and a threatening letter has been sent to South Korea’s defense chief, prompting authorities to launch a probe, the ministry said Friday.

The package addressed to Defense Minister Han Min-koo contained a 32.8-centimeter kitchen knife and some 20 grams of white powder with a two-page letter, according to the ministry, noting that the suspicious powder was later found to be flour.

The letter sent by the “International Peace Action Corps” reads, “Why are you bringing a fire cloud of a nuclear war to the Korean Peninsula by wagging your tongue?”

“I’ve decided to punish him out of concern that just leaving you like this would kill the whole people,” the letter said, warning to “get rid of” him and his family members.

On one side of the knife, the sender wrote in a red pen, “Han Min-koo,” and on the other side, “punishment,” the ministry noted.  [Yonhap News]

You can read more at the link, but this guy will likely be caught soon since they have video footage of him mailing the package as well as a fingerprint they pulled off the box that may be his.