Lee casts absentee ballot ahead of next week's free lunch vote

SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak cast an absentee ballot ahead of next week's referendum on Seoul's free school lunch program as he will be on a trip to Central Asia on the voting day.
Lee and first lady Kim Yoon-ok cast their votes at an absentee polling station set up at a district office in central Seoul. The main vote is scheduled for Wednesday to ask Seoul citizens whether to continue the opposition-led policy of providing all students with free lunch.
Lee and Kim are scheduled to leave for Mongolia on Sunday for a six-day trip to Central Asia that includes stops in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
Lee's ruling Grand National Party and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon have denounced the free lunch program as a populist policy weighing on government finances. Instead, they have suggested providing free lunch only to students in need.
Opposition parties argue poor students who receive free lunch could be stigmatized at school.
Lee has repeatedly voiced concern about politicians seeking populist proposals ahead of next year's parliamentary elections. In a Liberation Day speech Monday, Lee said that giving financial aid to those who are well off would dry up the budget for those in desperate need.