Ministries Seem to Follow the Lines with President-elect Rho`s Election Pledges without Oppositions

Several cases have been found that ministries of the government are trying to cater to the President-elect and his government transition team by following the lines with his election pledges, instead of pushing forward with policies which previously they considered proposing to the transition team, and which is causing concerns.

In particular, since the President-elect threw his support behind the government transition team by making remarks that making decisions on policies is what the president and those who are entrusted by the president have to do, the prevailing mood in which the president-elect`s election pledges have been accepted without little opposition by the bureaucratic community has been created and such a mood among government`s officials is raising concerns that there will be much confusion and a lot of administrative trials and errors in the process of implementing those polices.

For example, the Ministry of Finance and Economy initially opposed President-elect Rho`s election promise to establish an all-inclusive taxation system of inheritance and gifts, citing that it may be unconstitutional and is premature to put such a system into practice as reasons. However, the Ministry backed down its previous position and revealed its intention to legislate the bill within this year at a briefing made to the presidential transition committee.

In addition, the Finance and Economy Ministry previously showed its strong opposition to the idea of a tentative exemption of transfer income taxes imposed on one household possessing two houses in case of buying a house in countryside, citing possible tax exemptions on luxurious villas in countryside. However, the ministry finally made a turnabout, deciding to implement the president-elect`s idea.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry held back civic groups` demand of securing a grace period of imposing tariffs when the ministry begins renegotiations on opening the Korean market to foreign country-produced rice on the ground that it may disrupt negotiating strategies. However, the ministry officially unveiled at a briefing to the transition team that it would put the demand of securing a grace period of imposing tariffs on its agenda during trade negotiations.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said at its briefing to the team that the ministry is considering a plan that supersonic examinations and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) would be gradually covered by the health insurance after 2005. Unfortunately, the Ministry, however, presented such a plan at the briefing without having any financial means in place.

Regarding such an undesirable mood in the bureaucratic community, the Ministry of Planning and Budget said that ministries of the government did not seem to give due considerations to the national budget when they came up with those ill-prepared polices, following the lines with the President-elect`s election pledges and raised its concern that it may be difficult to reflect policies related to public welfare to the national budget in such a difficult time when the nation is in financial strains.

Young-Hae Choi Kwang-Am Cheon yhchoi65@donga.com iam@donga.com