Moon to push for common election pledges

President Moon Jae-in will push for policy items that he shared with his four main competitors during the past election, his de facto transition team said Tuesday.

The State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee has chosen 44 election pledges, which were shared by all five presidential candidates of the main political parties, and made them a priority for the Moon administration’s state affairs agenda.

“We have reviewed the manifestos of all political parties and chose some overlapping ones to reflect them in establishing the five-year blueprint for the Moon administration,” the committee’s spokesperson Rep. Park Kwang-on of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said in a press briefing. “The policy pledges will be taken to respective departments in the committee and will be refined to bring consent from the opposition parties.”

He did not reveal the list of common pledges, as there are still minor differences in the details.

“Some of the policies do not need amendment in law, while some need to be reviewed quickly for budget planning next year,” Rep. Park said.

The policy and advisory panel was established as a de facto power transition team earlier this month, as the new government came in without a transition period after former President Park Geun-hye was ousted.

The 70-day advisory committee, which consisted of six departments including economy, society and diplomacy, drew up a five-year governance blueprint for the new administration.

Political pundits say the list of common pledges is likely to include law revisions in welfare and labor policies.

As a presidential candidate, President Moon had pledged to provide 300,000 won ($266) as basic pension to those in the bottom 70 percent of the income bracket, which other presidential hopefuls had also promised.

Promoting labor rights was also echoed among the five political parties including raising the minimum wage to 10,000 won from the current 6,470 won and reducing working hours.

During the electioneering period, the ruling Democratic Party had also announced a list of common manifestos that could be worked on together with opposition parties. This included common plans such as reforming the prosecution and the National Intelligence Service.

A special taskforce also kicked off Monday to finalize the five-year state management plan until June 21.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)