Ex-Seoul Nat`l Univ. Pres. Blasts Democracy in Korea

Former Seoul National University President and celebrated economist Chung Un-chan yesterday called Korean democracy “inefficient” and unable “to coordinate different voices.”

In a speech at Princeton University in New Jersey, a school from which he received his doctorate in economics, Chung delivered a speech on uncertainty and Korea’s sustainable economic development.

“Korean political parties do not command the know-how to coordinate and incorporate various voices in society into policymaking procedure,” he said. “Laws and other institutions especially have failed to fully advance to control the economy. And this shortcoming has hindered Korea’s continuous economic development.”

“The Korean government has taken an approach requiring direct and active engagement of the economy. Instead, it should in the future strive to raise a pool of creative and innovative human resources and provide an optimal environment for them to make the best of their talent, rather than regulate their free thinking or interfere.”

Chung was invited by the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies.

On the U.S. financial shock, he said, “Amidst the turmoil on Wall Street, what Korea has to do now is to make all preparations for the global aftershock recovery period. Korea should improve productivity and efficiency of both its labor and financial systems.”

higgledy@donga.com