President Yoon Suk-yeol said, “The harder and the more we face a crisis, the more the national economy should shift to a private sector, market-oriented one.”
President Yoon made the remarks at a meeting on the direction of the new government’s economic policies at Pangyo 2nd Techno Valley in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, on June 16.
“If wo do not know the way, we cannot overcome multiple crises,” he said. “Outside and inside conditions we face are very stark, and the national economy and the market are shaking due to multiple crises amid fears of stagflation,” he said.
President Yoon said, “We should solve chronic low-growth and bipolarization issues to overcome the crisis of the pending public livelihood and achieve the explosive growth of the national economy.”
He also said the private sector has to create more jobs, and the government should concentrate its capabilities to help people find new opportunities.
“The government will eliminate all old regimes and conventional shadow restrictions, not based on laws that stand in the way of the private sector’s innovation and new industries,” President Yoon said.
He stressed that the government will dramatically overhaul systems and restrictions that hurt corporate competitiveness and entrepreneurship.
He promised that unfair practices disrupting fair market order will be uprooted, and companies will be encouraged to spur entrepreneurship and make investments according to laws and principles.
President Yoon made it clear he would not disregard social structural problems and he would push unpopular policies without interruption.
He cited pending immediate tasks, such as the reforming of the labor market, hindering job opportunities to youth, the lagging educational system failing to nurture manpower to meet field needs, and the pension that adds the financial burden to the future generation.
He said he believed that political circles would join forces with bipartisan cooperation regardless of ruling or opposition party affiliation.
Prices, interest rates and housing issues should be solved urgently, he said, and the government would devote itself to stabilizing livelihoods by lessening the private sector’s production cost burden, while giving more weight to help the underprivileged of society.
Among the participants from the government sector and the ruling party were Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Deputy Prime Minister-Minister of Economy and Finance Chu Kyung-ho, related ministers, Senior Presidential Economic Secretary Choi Sang-mok, and Chairman Sung Il-jong of the People Power Party’s Policy Committee.
Twenty-one participants from the private sector included Chairman Chey Tae-won of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chairman Kim Ki-moon of the Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ),Chairman Sohn Kyung-shikof Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF), President Yang Yong-hyun of Korea Development Institute Center for Regulatory Reform, President Baek Joon-ho of Puriosa AI, President Lee Chae-rin of Classum, President Kim Ji-won of ReDWit, Chairman Kim Sung-jae of Seoul National University Joint Semiconductor Research Institute, Prof. Kim Yong-ha of Soonchunyang University, Prof. Kwon Soon-won of Sookmyung Women’s University, Prof. Hong Seok-cheol of Seoul National University, and President No Dae-myung of Korea Social Security Information Service (SSIS).
The presidential office said in a news release, “Twenty-one experts from diverse sectors, including venture companies, academic circles and civilian researchers, got together and discussed pending issues in a private sector and market perspective, a departure from the previous government’s limiting of participants to economic ministers and economic body heads.”
President Yoon delivered his keynote speech and Deputy Prime Minister-MOEF Minister Chu reported the direction of the new government’s economic policies.
Participants discussed ways of raising the private sector-oriented economic dynamism and a virtuous cycle of growth and welfare as well as ways of building economic fundamentals, preparing the future and stabilizing people’s livelihood.
During the 90-minute closed debate, KCCI Chairman Chey said companies ought to make joint efforts to create good jobs to overcome a crisis, and as data is essential to bio, semiconductor or any other, the government should ponder how to gather and share data on future businesses.
Minister Lee Young of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) said, “Of late, data are more expensive than gold prices, and Korean public entities’ data disclosure ranks top at OECD levels.” He stressed the private and public sectors’ exchanges to create data with more values.
Minister Lee Chang-yang of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said the government should pursue a soft landing in a long-term perspective to solve multiple crises, and the most important thing is how to spur corporate investments.
It would increase employment, improve productivity, thus alleviating unemployment and general price hike pressures simultaneously.
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