CIVETS

Europe emerged as a global economic power after the Age of European Expansion in the 15th and 16th centuries. Until then, China and the Muslim world had overwhelmed Europe in production capability, living standards and trade volume. Following Portugal and Spain, which pioneered the European expansion, the Netherlands, France and England launched their own age of expansion. The phrase "the empire on which the sun never sets" was used to describe English dominion over the world. England, however, lost its global lead to the U.S. through World War I and II in the 20th century.

Entering the 21st century, the U.S. economy started to show a relative decline. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 signaled the collapse of “Pax Americana,” and two years later in October 2003. Back then, U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs said the world should pay attention to the rise of BRICs, or the four emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The acronym came into use as a symbol of the shift in global economic power away from the developed economies of the U.S., Japan and Europe and toward the developing world. American economist Nouriel Roubini also coined the term BRICK, with the "K" standing for Korea.

The Wall Street Journal recently said the group of countries called CIVETS, or Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa, are being touted as the next generation of "tiger economies." They daily said they are all fast-growing and relatively diverse economies, which means unlike the BRICs, they should be less heavily dependent on external demand. Yet others say CIVETS shares just one common trait: a large, young population.

Korea’s economic accomplishments over the past five decades are unmatched in history, particularly considering the ruins and damage the country suffered from the Korean War. Park Young-bae, economic statistics director at the Bank of Korea, said, “Only 10 countries with a population of more than 20 million have per capita income of more than 20,000 U.S. dollars.” It is an intellectually and morally coward action to ignore this success story by exaggerating the side effects during this rapid growth era. In the "economics Olympics," however, there are no eternal winners or losers. Korea’s economic status can rise further or abruptly fall depending upon how the Korean public, government and politicians cope with uncertainty.

Editorial Writer Kwon Sun-hwal (shkwon@donga.com)