Early Edition 18:00
On our newscast tonight.
The goal is one and the same, improving welfare.
But ruling and opposition party lawmakers cannot see eye to eye on how it should be done.
U.S. defense secretary nominee Ashton Carter promises to use everything within America′s range of capabilities to protect itself from the North Korean threat.
Jordan weighs its options on how to hit Islamic State militants where it hurts.
King Abdullah vows to fight the terrorist group until Jordan runs out of fuel and ammunition.
Stay with us for these stories and more.
Title: Rival camps differ views on welfare and taxation
We start tonight′s newscast with a political hot potato - welfare.
The ruling and opposition parties continue to have a heated debate over how to manage the nation′s welfare programs.
One side says, "fix the tax system," while the other says "make the welfare system fit the current amount of tax revenue."
Arirang News′ Lee Ji-yoon has our top story.
More welfare without tax hikes.
A promise that once sounded too good to be true,... is now stirring up debate between the two rival parties.
When President Park Geun-hye took office, she promised to expand welfare without increasing taxes, by cutting down on unnecessary projects and plugging tax loopholes.
However, the recent hike in cigarette prices and revised income tax codes resulted in public criticism that such policies were hurting ordinary salaried workers.
Both parties agree that providing more welfare without increasing taxes won′t work, but the two differ in ways to fix the problem.
The ruling Saenuri Party is calling for a new welfare system that works for Korea.
The ruling party′s chief policymaker Won Yoo-chul says, the government needs to reconsider the provision of free school lunches and free childcare programs.
He also said, instead of increasing taxes, the government should try to provide necessary welfare according to the tax it collects.
The party′s new floor leader Yoo Seong-min, however, says, increasing taxes is not out of the picture yet, and the party should discuss ways to provide at least some free welfare programs.
The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy thinks the problem lies with the tax system itself, not on expanded welfare.
The main opposition′s floor leader Woo Yoon-keun said parliament should set up a special committee to revise the current tax system.
The party also believes that various tax benefits for the rich and the president′s pro-business policies are what′s causing the country′s widened social polarization and the ballooning household debt.
With a little more than a year left until the general elections, the two rival camps are under pressure to find a way to appease an angry public,... that is criticizing the government for squeezing money out of average wage earners.
Lee Ji-yoon, Arirang News.
Title: Korea′s welfare spending still the lowest in the OECD
Now, with all of the debate abo

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