Gov't, ruling party agree to push to halve college tuitions

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details from para 3)
SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) -- The government and ruling Grand National Party (GNP) have agreed to push to lower the costs of college tuitions by half in a bid to relieve financial burdens on students, senior party officials said Sunday.
"Our party has decided to push to reduce college tuitions by half at least," Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, floor leader of the ruling party, told reporters. "The party will meet students, parents and college officials and work on ways to ease their burdens."
He said talks will be held with Education Minister Lee Ju-ho in the near future to exchange views on this matter. Lee, when he was a lawmaker in 2006, submitted a bill to halve university tuitions that same year.
Another party official said the government and the ruling party have effectively agreed to push through President Lee Myung-bak's election pledge of the "half-priced" tuition policy and will discuss it at the National Assembly in June.
The government is considering giving extensive subsidies and awarding state scholarships to students in a low-income bracket, according to GNP insiders.
It will also come up with measures to restrain colleges and universities from raising tuition fees, they added.
Defying Lee's appeal to curb the increase in education costs, most private universities and colleges in Seoul and other provincial cities have again decided to raise their tuitions this year.
Students staged protests against the tuition hikes in March, the beginning of the spring semester, and some student representatives even occupied school headquarters.
Korea University, one of the nation's most expensive universities to attend, has decided to raise this year's tuition by 2.9 percent from a year earlier while Hanyang University announced a 2.9 percent increase.
The latest move is seen by political observers as a concerted effort by the ruling party to win support from the middle class and low-income earners who have been disenchanted with the president's economic policies.
The economy has recovered quickly from the 2008 global financial crisis, but soaring home rental prices, inflationary pressure and a lack of good jobs have fueled public criticism.
The president, the government and GNP have come under attack for failing to help people left out of the recent economic rebound. Such dissatisfaction caused the ruling party to lose three of four parliamentary seats up for grabs at last month's by-elections and the governorship of Gangwon Province.
The main opposition party, meanwhile, attacked the announcement by the GNP to halve collage tuitions as a ploy to win votes ahead of next year's general and presidential elections.
The Democratic Party said that while it will help in the passage of any bill to help students, it doubted the sincerity of the GNP.