Korea`s path to `creative economy `

From a chopstick that measures salinity to a pedometer that allows sharing of moving distances on mobile devices, an omija (Maximowiczia typica) farming in Mungyeong of North Gyeongsang Province, and a solution to floor noises in apartments.

After the Park Geun-hye administration set a “creative economy” as its core administrative agenda, the central government, local governments, and even companies are using the term everywhere. The more they use the term, the more ambiguous its concept becomes.

To make the concept clear and help Korea to realize "creative economy," the Dong-A Ilbo proposes a “path to the creative economy” with Bain & Company, a consulting firm. To assess where Korea stands now, the two companies created a Dong-A Bain Creative Economy Index or DBCE Index.

Dong-A and Bain & Company defined a creative economy as a four-stage positive feedback loop: creating ideas, generating them into businesses, making them grow, and creating a virtuous cycle of success. In other words, Korea can become a strong creative economy by improving strong edge in each stage and having the stages connected.

The DBCE index measured the four stages with 32 core indicators. The DBCE index showed that Korea ranked only 25th out of 34 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation Development and China. China and Turkey were more creative than Korea, ranking 22nd and 24th. The U.S. topped the list and Israel, which the Korean government has used as a role model for a creative economy, ranked ninth. Japan was 32nd, showing that an advanced economy is not necessarily a developed creative economy.

Korea was the weakest as it ranked 31st in the stage of generating creative ideas. It is attributed to Koreans’ weakest self-initiated studying capacity as a result of rote learning. In addition, a social environment that ostracizes creative people as “geeks” also discourages the generation of new ideas. Korea ranked only 28th in the virtuous cycle of success. This means that success in business start-ups and valuable experiences in failure are not passed down as social assets in Korea.

Meanwhile, it ranked 19th in generating ideas into businesses, and 14th in business expansion. It is largely attributable to the government system fostering start-ups, state-of-the-art technologies initiated by conglomerates, and the world no. 1 ICT infrastructure.

To draw a comparison, national athletes are world-class but sports for the general public are poor. “Now is the time to lay the `foundation` for the creative economy, not the `athletes,`” experts say in unison. “The policies of the creative economy should not be focused on research and development for cutting-edge industries and securing patents.” This is why some people say that the "imagination and development (I&D)" in which the people participate should become prevalent.

Lee Hyeok-jin, a partner of Bain & Company, said, “It should come up with measures that can prevent leaks from the creative economy such as generating ideas and the success system with virtuous cycle while bearing in mind the whole ecosystem.”

nex@donga.com