NCLB, Lee Myung-bak style

Sickening.

(More sickening:

Government unveils debt rescue scheme

The government yesterday announced plans to bail out as many as 290,000 credit delinquents and extend more credit loans to struggling small enterprises.

Under the initiative named "New Start 2008," individual credit delinquents will be allowed to get loans with their deposits in the national pension fund as collateral, and pay back their debts, beginning in August.

They can borrow half the amount of their accumulated pension contributions.

There are currently up to 2.6 million credit delinquents, and financial authorities are considering various possible measures to rescue them from snowballing debt and interest.

A separate rescue plan is expected to be announced later this week.

"New Start is our way of putting people back on their feet, while at the same time preventing the abuse of the system and burdening state finances," said Lee Dong-kwan, the presidential spokesman.

But to prevent possible moral hazard, the government said that the redemption scheme will be implemented temporarily.

The rescue project comes amid mounting criticism that the new Lee Myung-bak government - with its very rich ministers - has little regard for the economically disadvantaged.

Civic groups have been calling on the administration to assist viable participants in the market to help them get back into the competitive economy, since the growing number of delinquents and other social outcasts has been taking a toll on the overall health of the economy.

Addressing such demands, Cheong Wa Dae said the New Start project aimed to offer aid to those who have been pushed to the margins because they were underprivileged to start with, or as a result of certain policy errors.

"If we don't get these people back on their feet again, there is no way we can ever ease the structural polarization that defines our society today," said the presidential office, explaining of the program's mission.

New Start also outlines plans to extend a total of 1 trillion won ($1 billion) in loans to struggling proprietors via provincial credit guarantee funds. The loans, however, will be limited to 10 million won or less per company.

Up to 125,000 companies may become beneficiaries, assuming that they each receive an average of 8 million won, the presidential office said.

To provide better protection for temporary workers, the government said it would urge companies to provide all workers with employment insurance.

Regarding local farms, the government vowed to use some 4.35 billion won to start a state-run lending business for farming equipment. This is in response to the fact that farms spend so much money to buy new equipment. In addition, livery farms will be given access to 1 trillion won in loans, which the government plans to extend at a low interest of 3 percent. These loans are to be used for purchasing feed, as prices have lately surged due to soaring demand.

To help attract more people to the nation's struggling traditional markets, the administration devised a plan to allow government officials to use their "welfare points" at such markets. Officials are currently given up to 640,000 won a year to cover costs related to education and health care.

The presidential office has designated every last Saturday of the month as a day for visiting traditional markets.

By Kim Ji-hyun*

(jemmie@heraldm.com)

2008.03.26

*Kim Ji-hyun, if I should some day have the pleasure of meeting you, you will regret getting out of bad that day.