President promises better jobs, welfare services

SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak vowed Monday to help provide
better jobs and welfare services, especially for the disabled, saying jobs not
only help make a living but also allow people to live with dignity.

The president said the government will start paying disability pension starting
from July and provide free long-term medical services from 2011.
But the most helpful and meaningful assistance the government can provide is a
job," Lee said.
"Jobs are very precious. A job provides a means to make money, but more
importantly it provides a way to live with dignity and be happy," Lee said in his
biweekly radio national address.
"I came to believe more that it is important to create jobs that best suit people
with specific disabilities," he said, referring to his recent trip to a furniture
factory that employ people with disabilities.
"They say 90 percent of the disabled acquire their disabilities after birth,
which means it can happen to any of us," he said. "Building a society where the
disabled are happy is building a country where anyone and everyone can live a
happy, safe life."
bdk@yna.co.kr
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