The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Wednesday awarded a W500,000 allowance to some 2,800 handpicked young unemployed people (US$1=W1,118).

The Ministry of Health and Welfare immediately condemned the move, which went ahead despite increasingly frantic attempts by the ministry to stop it.

The ministry said it "cannot allow" what it called "populist" welfare policies aimed at bribing young voters. It gave the city government an ultimatum of 9 a.m. Thursday to cancel the policy and threatened to revoke the city's powers. Seoul city officials countered by threatening to take the ministry to court.

The unemployment allowance is paid for up to six months to select young people between 19 and 29 who have lived in the capital for more than a year and work less than 30 hours a week. The aim is to help them out as they search for jobs.

The city has set aside W9 billion this year and hopes to expand the number of recipients in the future. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, a top presidential contender in the liberal camp, has repeatedly vowed not to back down.

The city received 6,309 applications and last week chose 3,000 of them based on their household income, duration of unemployment and number of family members. The payments started immediately to 2,831 people who signed an acceptance form.

The ministry had apparently hoped to stop the payments at the last minute, but too late. A ministry official warned, "This could prompt other regional governments to undertake similar policies aimed at wooing voters."

