Seoul’s massive economic recovery program may be scuttled even before getting off the ground. Minister of Health and Welfare, Kim Geun-tae, says he is opposed to the conversion of massive amounts of pension funds to be used for an economic stimulus package.
In a statement posted on the ministry’s Web site, Kim said that using pension funds for other purposes could jeopardize the foundation of the pension system.
Earlier this month, the ruling camp announced an ambitious economic stimulus package to be implemented beginning early next year. The stimulus package, dubbed the Korean version of America’s New Deal in the early 1930s, calls for spending some ten trillion won or nine billion U.S. dollars in state, private, and foreign funds to bring the economy out of the doldrums.
The accumulated size of the national pension fund, which would be the main financier of the economic recovery program, stood at one hundred-28 trillion won, or 120 billion U.S. dollars, as of late September.