Youth Allowance

[Anchor Lead]

The debate over pork barrel policies is stirring up again as the Seoul municipal government goes ahead with the youth allowance program. It appears that city of Seoul and the central government are at odds over the allocation of subsidies for young job seekers.

[Pkg]

Young job seekers are being counseled on job searching and interviewing methods from recruiting specialists.

[Soundbite] Kim Hyeon-do(Job Seeker) : "It's hard to pay for living expenses and private academy fees with the money I make by working long hours at minimum wage."

The city government of Seoul has decided to pay monthly allowances to these types of unemployed young people and posted an official notice. Those eligible for this allowance program are people between the ages of 19 and 29, who have lived in Seoul for over a year and are working fewer than 30 hours a week. The city plans to give about 430 dollars a month to 3,000 eligible youths for six months. The cost of the program comes to over 7.8 million dollars a year.

[Soundbite] Park Won-soon(Seoul Mayor) : "People should have jobs they want to do. The city should provide the environment where people can work with passion and are willing to work through the night."

However, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has sent a final notice opposing the program to the Seoul municipal government. The ministry believes that it's highly likely that the cash would be dispensed indiscriminately.

[Soundbite] Kang Wan-koo(Sec.-Gen., Social Security Committee, MOHW) : "We plan to consider correction orders, cancellation, and even cuts on share tax allocation."

The situation is turning into a full-blown showdown between the two bodies as the city of Seoul is not backing down to the central government's stance that it would respond sternly to the Seoul city government's youth allowance program.