Policy Watch: Hong Joon-pyo maps out vision for welfare transformation

People Power Party presidential nomination candidate Hong Joon-pyo (Yonhap)

Hong Joon-pyo, the recently resigned Daegu mayor and a presidential contender for the conservative People Power Party's nomination, has unveiled a welfare reform plan titled “Welfare Transformation 100+1.” Framing it as a shift from cash handouts to future generation empowerment, Hong emphasized opportunity over cash benefits, particularly for the vulnerable.

Central to Hong’s plan is keeping welfare costs in line with economic growth. “We’ll set an appropriate welfare-to-GDP ratio so future generations aren’t burdened and people can achieve economic independence,” he said.

Key pledges include expanding child subsidies from age 8 to 15 and creating 2 million public jobs for seniors. The basic pension will be restructured around income security, alongside a “half-price hospital” system for the aged and a “one-on-one senior care” initiative for 1 million older people living alone.