Pork barrel politics

The Grand National Party (GNP) pointed to three types of projects for which various administration departments and agencies requested budgetary appropriations as inspired by pork barrel politics.

They are projects to benefit rural communities, flood victims or the general public, big development projects in certain areas and others aimed at appeasing occupational and civic groups. The opposition party cited a number of ``problem projects`` having very limited feasibility and relevance. Parts of the analysis follow:

"General pork barrel projects":

The GNP raised doubts about the usefulness of projects requested by the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs (MOGAHA) to expand and pave roads in rural areas, costing a total of 183.9 billion won next year, as they were made in response to repeated demands by rural communities immediately before elections.

The requests were not contained in a report the Ministry of Budget and Planning prepared last month on budgetary request.

Expenditures to aid the livelihood of underprivileged people estimated at 4,755.2 billion won by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) for the coming year is 70.3 percent higher than this year. Critics are of the opinion that such a sharp increase in welfare spending, leading to income redistribution, is undesirable under present circumstances calling for fiscal belt-tightening.

Another MOGAHA project to develop townships within small cities and counties in the countryside for which the ministry requested 200 billion won is also suspected of being a show of patronage to seek widespread rural votes in the presidential election and local elections next year.

The opposition party said that another item of outlays amounting to 271.3 billion won and requested by the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development (MOEHRP) to advance expansion of free and compulsory secondary education originally planned for 2004 to next year also has been conceived with the presidential race in mind.

Irrelevant SOC projects:

The amount of 110.5 billion won the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) requested to develop a free-trade zone in Kunsan next year is 3.5 times the sum of 32.7 billion won appropriated this year. The GNP says the project is being pushed ahead with no scrutiny for feasibility and with insufficient induction of foreign investment.

The MOGAHA is seeking 50 billion won to fund a memorial programs for the Apr. 3 incident on Cheju Island. The amount is seen to be out of proportion to 17.5 billion won asked for building a cemetery for the victims of the Geochang, Sancheong and Hamyang incidents.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism plans to build a national conservatory of traditional music in the southern region at a cost of 15 billion won next year. Its location on a small island of 40,000 residents, Jindo, South Cholla Province, hardly would ensure its efficiency and relevance, yet the government is pressing on with the project recklessly, critics say.

The opposition party insists that except for a few projects involving the development of a Confucian cultural zone and construction of the Seoul-Pusan high-speed railway, most of the large-scale local development projects are concentrated in Honam (southwestern) provinces.

Appeasement of occupational, civic groups and state publicity:

The MOGAHA demands subsidies for civic organizations be raised 38 percent from the current level. It also plans to launch a national volunteer corps for safety at a cost of 1.05 billion won, and the GNP fears such an amorphous entity might be used by the government party to promote its electoral gains.

Other questionable projects:

Programs for the development of localized and specialized technology promoted by the MOCIE were given the lowest mark of E in the evaluation of research and development projects of 2000 by the State Commission for Science and Technology. Yet the MOCIE requested 48.2 billion won or 8 billion won more than the amount given this year.

The Ministry of Science and Technology asked for 25.9 billion won to move the national science museum to a new site where the land price of 300,000 won per pyong is overpriced at 1,000,000 won by its budget officers.

Refutation by government:

The MOEHRP says the enforcement of compulsory secondary education had been planned for 2004 but that President Kim Dae-Jung`s strong commitment to put it into practice during his term of office prompted its implementation ahead of schedule. Financial resources could be secured from the net increase in next year`s budget, instead of eating away the existing educational resources, it said.

``Realistically, it is difficult to cut down the number of beneficiaries and expenses required for their welfare, and it does not stand to reason for critics to decry continued welfare benefits as pork barrel politics,`` an MOHW official said.

Sun Dae-In eodls@donga.com