South Korea’s newly elected president has a populist streak, but is it a smart one?

Businessman-turned politician Lee Myung-bak sees a role for the government in economic affairs, even though he largely trusts in the market and global trade to reverse the country’s slowing economic growth.

Lee, for example, has called for building a major Korean waterway and promotes the creation of an “International Science and Business City” in Chungcheong province.

What’s more, Lee seems to take the idea of a social safety net seriously. His official Web site calls for a society that is “warm” and touts the idea of a “smart market economy,” meaning that “Competition, freedom and creativity should be protected but stragglers helped.”

The word “stragglers” may be more pejorative than Lee intends because of translation issues. But it does seem like he views those who struggle economically to be charity cases. For example, the site also states: “…Korean people call for new political leadership, which should be based on faith in success, respect of freedom and competition, and a forward-looking managerial capacity. It also should be able to help and guide the needy, the weak, and the handicapped.”

Losers in the global economy, however, aren’t always “weak.” The turbulent nature of today’s capitalism can topple otherwise competent companies and individuals quickly, and there’s little to anything they can do about it. Some countries, such as Denmark, are exploring policies that effectively take the stigma out of job loss and treat the social safety net—which can include retraining and wage insurance—as a force to keep an economy strong.

Will Lee’s “warm” version of welfare fall short of being the wisest variety?