``Backroom`` choice of KDI chief disputed

The move by the ministry of finance and economy and some members of the presidential staff to appoint ex-finance and economy minister Kang Bong-Kyun as director of the nation`s premier think tank, the Korea Development Institute, has sparked a controversy in economic and academic circles. On top of fears about possible damage to the professed independence of the research organization, there are concerns that the government is stepping back from its promise to promote genuinely open recruitment of such high-level officials.

According to the Society for Economic and Social Studies, operated under the Prime Minister`s Office and chaired by Yim Jong-Chol, honorary professor of Seoul National University, incumbent KDI director Lee Jin-Sun, former finance minister Kang and four others applied for the position. The selection of the KDI`s chief executive officer through open and public competition is being attempted for the first time since the think tank came into being in 1971. The effort was welcomed by many economists and businesspeople, the hope being that installing a highly learned person with strong convictions in the post would enable the objective and independent study of economic issues and rule out the possibility of pressure and influence from politicians and bureaucrats.

There were feelings of betrayal and frustration, however, as word went around that the government`s economic team, led by Finance-Economy Minister Jin Nyum, began making a pitch for Kang in advance. In February, before Kang had even applied for the post, highly placed officials at the ministry and Cheong Wa Dae began to meet with leaders of the media and academia to drum up support for Kang. These activities fanned rumors that Kang`s appointment to the top KDI post was a foregone conclusion. A researcher with the Korea Economic Institute described Kang`s de facto nomination as an outcome of collusion between some bureaucrats, who wanted to find a position for a retired "senior," and a government that is loath to have an independent think tank that might produce unflattering reports and recommendations. ``They might be intending to gag the KDI,`` the researcher said.

On the other hand, a bureau chief at the finance-economy ministry said Kang is both well-versed in economic matters and highly experienced, having long been in charge of macro-economic policies and once even assigned to the KDI. ``Effective coordination with the government is no less important than autonomy for a state-controlled think tank,`` the researcher said.

Yet Kang`s detractors hold that the apparent attempt to use the think tank as a rubber stamp for government policies threatens to weaken the national economy by discouraging plural viewpoints on policy. A member of a private research body said former finance minister Kang may be learned and capable but stressed that positions for which bureaucrats are suited need to be distinguished from those that would be best filled by scholars.

Most analysts favor choosing the new KDI director from among qualified people who are capable of monitoring internal and external economic trends from an impartial and independent standpoint. The winning candidate should also be able to shut out political influence-peddling and pressure from the bureaucracy.

An executive of a large local firm said his corporation makes use of KDI macro-economic reports to project the future of the economy and work out its business strategies. He voiced misgivings about the credibility of KDI reports in the event Kang was appointed to the top post. The KDI chief will be chosen by the 15-member SESS board, which consists of five government officials, eight academicians and two others.