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연합뉴스 By Chang Jae-soon
SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak said Monday South Korea should maintain its fiscal health, warning that reckless welfare policies could lead to national default as seen in the case of the debt crisis in Greece.
Lee also said that fiscal soundness is also key to realizing what he called "ecosystemic development" aimed at creating a "warm-hearted society in which the strong and the weak, the haves and have-nots, and big businesses and small businesses can work together for the sake of common progress."
The remarks came two days before Wednesday‘s referendum on Seoul‘s opposition-led free school lunch program that Lee‘s ruling Grand National Party and Mayor Oh Se-hoon have denounced as a populist policy that should be blocked at any cost.
Oh said Sunday that he would stake his mayorship on the result of the vote.
"The key to the success of ecosystemic development is the fiscal soundness of our nation. Only when our nation maintains sound finances would it be possible for the government to take care of low-income families who suffer first when the economy is bad," Lee said during his biweekly radio address recorded last week.
On Monday, Lee was in Mongolia as part of a three-nation tour to Central Asia.
"If we fail to secure fiscal soundness amidst the rapidly changing global economy, it would be tantamount to voyaging on a vast sea in a leaky boat," Lee said. "We can learn a great lesson from some southern European countries, which are on the brink of national bankruptcy due to indiscriminately expanded welfare benefits instituted to win the favor of the public."
Lee quoted professor Aristides N. Hatzis of the University of Athens as saying that the bankruptcy in Greece is attributable to two giant political parties that competitively engaged in welfare populism. The professor also advised Korea never to follow the suit of Greece, Lee said.
"The entitlement policies that are being carried out already are hard to stop. When unreasonable policies result in wasting money, the consequence is government debt. The whole amount of which will then be turned over to our children, weighing them down," he said.
| NO. | 제 목 |  |
등록일자 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4120 | [보도]韓 채무증가율, OECD 국가 중 최고 ... 11년새 399.1% 증가 자유기업원 / 2011-08-26 |
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| 4119 | [보도]<연합뉴스 이시각 헤드라인> - 20:00 자유기업원 / 2011-08-25 |
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| 4118 | [보도]韓 채무증가율, OECD 주요국 중 가장 높아 국가 재정에 위협 자유기업원 / 2011-08-25 |
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| 4117 | [보도]한국 채무증가율 OECD 중 가장 높아 자유기업원 / 2011-08-25 |
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| 4116 | [보도]韓 채무증가율, OECD 주요국 중 가장 높다 자유기업원 / 2011-08-25 |
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| 4115 | [보도]자유기업원, 과도한 정부지출에 국가재정 ‘위기’ 자유기업원 / 2011-08-25 |
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| 4114 | [보도]자유기업원, “국가채무 증가율 높을수록 경제성장률 낮아” 자유기업원 / 2011-08-25 |
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| 4113 | [보도]Lee stresses importance of maintaining fiscal health ahead of vote on free lunch 자유기업원 / 2011-08-22 |
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| 4112 | [보도]무상급식 지원범위에 관한 주민투표 토론회 - 은평구 선관위 주관 자유기업원 / 2011-08-22 |
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| 4111 | [보도]무상급식 지원범위에 관한 주민투표 토론회 - 강서구 선관위 주관 자유기업원 / 2011-08-22 |
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| 4110 | [보도]8/22 집중토론 - 우리나라 재정건전성, 수준은? 자유기업원 / 2011-08-22 |
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| 4109 | [보도]‘공생발전’은 우리 사회도 자연생태계와 같이 서로 도움을 주고받으며, 함께 더불어 사는 ‘공존의 숲’을 만들고자 하는 것입니다. 자유기업원 / 2011-08-22 |
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| 4108 | [보도]*** 김정호의 알기 쉬운 경제교실 - 해외여행 자유기업원 / 2011-08-20 |
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| 4107 | [보도]살아있는 운동권 화석들, 공짜 밥에 자유 팔다 자유기업원 / 2011-08-20 |
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| 4106 | [보도]"中企 지원·미소금융재단 등 기존의 약속들 정착에 주력" 자유기업원 / 2011-08-20 |
