Democratic Party presidential primary candidate Kim Kyung-soo announced his intention to implement a “National Basic Living Guarantee System” to assure a minimum income at 40% of the median income for all citizens.
Candidate Kim made this pledge at a press conference held at the National Assembly, where he unveiled his pledges in various fields such as social, political, and foreign affairs. He stated, “We will ensure an adequate income so that no one, at any point in their life cycle, experiences absolute poverty.”
Kim emphasized the need for state accountability, declaring, “The state must now take responsibility to ensure that the generation which led industrialization does not end up collecting waste paper to make ends meet, and to prevent families from resorting to extreme measures due to sudden crises. A society free from absolute poverty is entirely feasible by merely restoring the tax cuts implemented by the Yoon Seok-youl administration.”
Additionally, Kim proposed a transformation of the nationwide employment insurance initiated by the Moon Jae-in administration into an income-based nationwide income insurance, instead of one based on employment qualifications. He also suggested integrating nursing facilities and nursing hospitals into a single care insurance system to reduce caregiving burdens.
Kim also outlined his educational policy, asserting the need to guarantee a fair starting line. He proposed a regional innovation coalition involving local governments, universities, and industries to significantly ease the ranking of universities. He added, “We will develop infrastructure by linking education, industry, and healthcare through five major regional megacities, with a goal of establishing ten new Seoul National Universities through concentrated investment in national universities serving as regional hubs.”
Further pledges included the introduction of a presidential runoff system and an alliance nomination system, the separation of prosecutorial investigation and indictment functions, the reform of the military service system into a mixed conscription and volunteer model, the reorganization of the Ministry of Unification into a Peace Cooperation Department, and the institutionalization of a bipartisan diplomatic and security strategy committee.
Regarding military service system reform, Kim stated, “Due to population decline, maintaining the current conscription system in the near future will be impossible. Proactive measures are necessary to transition to a sustainable troop structure while maintaining security capabilities.” He continued, “Let’s immediately pursue a mixed conscription and volunteer system, aiming to gradually reduce the standing force to 350,000 and secure deficient draftees through recruitment, while offering support ensuring military experience benefits the youth’s future.”
On the introduction of the volunteer system, Kim asserted, “We considered implementing a volunteer military system for both men and women nationwide. However, given the extensive social discussions required, it’s more appropriate to initially adopt a mixed system of conscription and volunteering, progressively expanding the scope of volunteer service.”
Candidate Kim concluded by expressing his vision for a sustainable, advanced nation founded on trust. He criticized insurgent forces for endangering the nation and forcing citizens into hardship, stating, “The greatest crime has been undermining the trust between the people and the state.”
He emphasized that national taxes represent not only the hard work and efforts of citizens’ arduous lives but also their trust in the government, asserting, “The state must transparently, fairly, and humanely respond to that trust.”
[Photo Credit: Yonhap News]
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