[Opinion] Naming Economic Policies

With globalization, companies have experienced varied fortunes depending on their names. This is the very reason why SK gave up its former name “Sunkyung.” “Sunkyung” is hard for foreigners to pronounce, and the “Sunk” in the name gave negative images to people because of its meaning. Moreover, foreigners tended to confuse it with Ssangyong, another company in Korea, due to the similarity in English pronunciation. In many more cases, company names have determined the success of their products. GM’s “Nova” underwent hard times in Spanish-speaking regions. After all, it was so obvious that the sales in the region fared not well since “Nova” meant “doesn’t go” in Spanish.

It seems that naming is a headache not only for individuals or businesses. The Ministry of Finance and Economy has decided to design a “comprehensive plan,” which integrates projects aimed at stimulating investment and consumption, and it is planning to hold a naming contest for the plan. The ambition to create a Korean version of the New Deal is nothing to be blamed. However, we have concerns over this issue because we witnessed the complications surrounding the naming of “Economic Hub of Northeast Asia.”

It was January 2002 when “Northeast Asian Hub” first emerged as a national economic vision. At that time, President Kim Dae-jung promoted the idea of “Central Nation of Northeast Asian Business” in his state of the union press conference. However, not fully satisfied, he brought up a new phrase “Central Nation of Northeast Asian Economy.” Nonetheless, the unrealistic name was short-lived. Then, the name was downgraded to “Economic Hub of Northeast Asia,” without the word “nation,” but this was not the end. It was later overshadowed by the objective of “National Income of $20,000,” and the Presidential Committee on Northeast Asian Economic Hub was renamed as the Committee on Northeast Asian Era.

This being the case, citizens are already dizzy when they hear the phrase “Hub of Northeast Asia,” let alone various policies such as “Job Creation Comprehensive Measure,” “Investment Promotion Measure,” “Middle to Low-Class Policy,” “Correction of Discrimination and Gap between the Rich and Poor,” and “Balanced Development Policy.” Just looking at the names of these policies, all the people in this nation should be leading affluent and peaceful lives. Why would the names of policies matter—whether it be “Belated Policy” or “Empty Policy”— if the economy picks up.

Cheon Gwnang-am, Editorial writer, iam@donga.com