Jim Yong Kim and opening S.Korea`s doors to the world

Korean American Jim Yong Kim, president of Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, stood alongside U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a news conference Friday. Obama has picked Kim to head the World Bank, over which the U.S. holds considerable sway. Kim beat out for the post Harvard University professor Lawrence Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary; Senator Sen. John Kerry, a former Democratic presidential candidate; Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs, who officially announced his candidacy for the World Bank presidency; and U.N. ambassador Susan Rice. South Koreans can take pride in having another one of its own heading a major international institution following U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The U.N. represents countries around the world, and the World Bank leads the global economy along with the International Monetary Fund. U.N. secretary general has traditionally been from smaller and weaker countries to keep powerful countries in check. By contrast, Westerners have led the World Bank over the past 66 years and the IMF over the past 67 years. In this sense, Kim`s nomination as head of the World Bank is not just South Korea`s accomplishment but that of Asia.

Kim was born in Seoul and his family immigrated to the U.S. when he was 5 years old. He and his ethnic Korean wife are fluent in Korean and have two sons. Kim’s nomination as World Bank president can be likened to the conquest of western China by Gen. Goseonji of the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo in the era of the ancient Chinese Tang Dynasty and the publishing of "Wangocheonchukgukjeon (Memoir of the Pilgrimage to the Five Regions of India)" written by the Buddhist monk Hyecho, who hailed from the ancient Korean kingdom of Shilla. Kim has become a trendsetter in world history, going beyond becoming a protagonist of Korean history, with his spirit of challenge and strenuous efforts.

Unlike North Korea, South Korea has taken the road of openness since liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945. While North Korea has deteriorated to one of the world’s poorest countries, the South has become the world’s 10th-largest economy. Kim is a global health expert who has dedicated himself to the eradication of disease. The main task of the World Bank is to support developing countries. On his nomination of Kim, President Obama said, “It’s time for a development professional (not an economist) to lead the world’s largest development agency.” This comment is related to South Korea’s remarkable economic achievements.

Kim’s nomination should serve as an opportunity for those afraid of opening South Korea`s doors to the world to reflect on themselves in an era of no national boundaries due to free trade agreements. The country must produce more people who can communicate in English and take on challenges on the global stage. Fortunately, South Korea was given a free market amid the Cold War in which the U.S. and the former Soviet Union ideologically locked horns with each other. South Koreans wisely chose at the time a government that did not blow opportunities. Like those who stuck to an isolationist policy in the latter part of the Joseon Dynasty, South Korea still has cowardly politicians who claim that opening the country`s markets will results in national collapse. Now is the time when another wise choice by the people is needed.