The six-month old economic team

It is exactly six months since the current economic team was born. So-called a dream team, it comprises Finance and Economy Minister Lee Hun-Jae, Commerce, Industry and Energy Minister Kim Young-ho, Minister of Planning and Budget Jin Nyum, Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Lee Yong-Keun and Presidential Secretary for Economic Affairs Lee Ki-Ho. It is an array of top-notch economic policymakers that the nation can gather. Minister Lee Hun-Jae is credited with having led Korea`s initial climb out of the financial pit. Equipped with a broad knowledge of finance and an ability to read the market, he has accomplished seemingly impossible tasks. Presidential Secretary Lee Ki-Ho is reputed as one of the best macroeconomist, in both the academia and policymaking realm. Minister Jin Nyum is known for his depth of government experience and a man of substance.

Minister Kim is a genius of a scholar who is always brimming with ideas. Chairman Lee Yong-Keun is a hard-working and driven policymaker who is deemed the right man to push through reforms.

Indeed, their beginning foretold of a smooth sailing. They delivered high growth rate, low prices and low interest rate that they promised. Unemployment rate was the lowest since the financial crisis, and economy was in good condition. Trade surplus was shrinking but macroeconomic indicators showed that the economy on the whole was doing well.

But the problem was Daewoo. The corporation, walloped in bankruptcy, continued to ask for government provision. Financial institution that were barely resuscitated to life through injection of public funds wobbled due to Daewoo`s debts. The failure in dealing with Daewoo`s crisis remains as the Dream Team`s fatal fault. The problem of the investment trust companies was another. In both cases, the team only tried to solve the problem through stop-gap measures.

As they went back and forth in dealing with these cases, the public began to doubt the government`s will and commitment to financial restructuring. At the joint meeting between government and ruling party officials, chief policymaker Lee Hai-Chan of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party blasted the team, which was handpicked by the President as a pack of failed economic policymakers.

The crux of the failure of the Dream Team is that it succumbed to political rationale. The government announced an array of policies to curry favor with voters during the April 13 parliamentary elections, got embroiled and lost in the controversial debate over the size of the government`s debt, an issue

that was raised by the opposition Grand National Party. The government also failed to respond properly to the threat of strike by unions in the financial sector.

The economic team faces the daunting task of completing the second-phase of financial and corporate restructuring, as well as leading our economy to soft-land next year. The government also needs to support and subsidize joint economic projects with North Korea.

The team is extremely tired and worn out. Minister Lee Hun-Jae, who went without sleep for two nights for the negotiations with the financial sectors` labor unions, said that he got to sit down for breakfast for the first time on Wednesday in six months. There are concerned voices that either they need to reenergize itself or it is time for a new team.