President Park Geun-hye vowed Monday to revitalize South Korea’s economy and reform the country as she called for national reconciliation.

“We face the task of an economic takeoff and an innovation of the country by overcoming difficulties,” Park said in a message marking Buddha’s birthday. “The government will accomplish the tasks of (our) era along with the people and make every effort for the happiness of the people.”

The message was read by Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok at Jogyesa, the chief temple of the Jogye Order, South Korea’s largest Buddhist sect, in downtown Seoul.

Park’s comments came as she is struggling to overhaul civil service pensions in a way that would require public officials to pay more while in service and receive less after retirement.

The public employee pension reform is a key agenda of the Park administration, though she faces strong opposition from the labor unions that represent public servants.

“I hope that our society will move toward reconciliation,” Park said in the message.

Last week, the rival parties agreed to make a fresh attempt to pass a bill on the public employee pension reform through the National Assembly in coming days.

They had forged a bipartisan deal on reforming civil service pensions, but they failed to pass a bill earlier this month as the ruling party rejected the opposition’s demand that benefits from the national pension scheme for ordinary South Koreans be increased to 50 percent of preretirement income.

Park has stressed the urgency of overhauling the civil service pension, warning that by next year, the government will be forced to use 10 billion won ($9 million) of taxpayer money every day to fund civil service pensions unless the parliament passes a reform bill by early May.

Also Monday, Buddhist ceremonies were held in some 20,000 temples across the country.

The coming week is considered a golden opportunity for Park, as her appointment of Justice Minister as the next prime minister ― although opposed by the opposition bloc ― is expected to add spur to her economic and reform policies sidetracked since the graft scandal involving her former and incumbent aides, and the April 29 by-elections.

Park is readying for a busy diplomatic schedule as well, with her U.S. trip slated for next month. By showcasing a strong alliance with Washington, Park is expected to aim for a boost to her approval ratings against the growing concerns over Korea’s tightening spot in the regional rivalry between China and U.S., escalated by Washington’s closer entente with Tokyo.

“With the president having a clear conviction of abolishing the deep-rooted evils of the past in order to resurrect the economy and create the new country, the period between June and August is viewed as the golden time to achieve the reform tasks,” a Cheong Wa Dae official said on condition of anonymity.

By August, which Cheong Wa Dae considers a watershed moment for the administration’s five-year term, Park insists on accelerating the reforms of the public, labor, finance and education sector, the source said.

Park is also intent on punishing politicians embroiled in the so-called Sung Woan-jong scandal if convicted by the prosecution as part of the political reform, the source added.

Eight of the ruling party members have been facing suspicions of receiving illegal donations from Sung, a deceased businessman who committed suicide on April 9 who left a list of the suspected politicians.

From news reports


koreaherald@heraldcorp.com