SEOUL, South Korea – Seoul’s mayor is asking voters to reject free lunches for all elementary and middle school students in a referendum Wednesday that has become a test of how far a resurgent South Korea should go in developing a welfare state.
As rising costs batter the U.S. and European governments, the $370-million-a-year proposal has sparked months of heated debate, giving a glimpse of Asia’s fourth-largest economy at a crossroads. Having rebuilt after the Korean War and faced down a brutal financial crisis in the late 1990s, the nation is debating the role of government and how much it can afford in social programs.
Seoul already provides free lunch to 35 percent of elementary and middle school students, and the city parliament has approved raising that to 100 percent. A referendum is the only way for conservative Mayor Oh Se-hoon to reverse that decision. If he succeeds, the city would instead provide lunch for half of all students, including those in high school.
Oh has vowed to quit if voters go against him.
Supporters of the 100 percent free lunch program say it’s needed to prevent schoolchildren from discriminating against one another because of family income levels. They argue it would improve unity
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