Gov’t needs bolder deregulations and vigorous communication skills

“Strengthen leadership and communication.”

Economists call on heads of government economic agencies for building qualifications as leaders of government ministries or agencies, instead of giving advice on policies. In particular, Vice Minister Hyun Oh-seok leading the entire economic agencies was asked for leadership befitting the control tower of government economic agencies.

Calling for leadership on a current vice minister is not normal. The call seems to be related to his reputation for being colorless or without presence. An expert who wanted to remain anonymous said, “To weather the difficult and chaotic economic situation, we need a charismatic leader who can force opposition parties to join him moving forward. We need bolder policy measures including those for deregulations.”

Experts also said that the government should communicate with the National Assembly more rigorously. This means that Hyun should prevent economic policies from failing to be passed at the parliament and forestall too many policies for economic democratization from being adopted. Oh Jeong-geun, an economics professor at Korea University, said, “Consultation between government ministries as well as strategies regarding the National Assembly to help key policies pass the National Assembly are necessary.”

Regarding Bank of Korea Governor Kim Choong-soo, economists said he needs to stop being a mugwumpish who does not listen to the market. Ha Jun-gyeong, an economics professor at Hanyang University, said, “(Kim) needs a better way to communicate to be trusted by the market.” Governor Kim was also expected to avoid ambiguous wording and deliver his message clearly at meetings or news conferences. As for currency policies or interest rates, economists had various voices.

Regarding Fair Trade Commission Chairman Noh Dae-rae and Financial Services Commission Chairman Shin Je-yoon, economic pundits made more specific advice. In particular, Commissioner Roh was called for making clear definitions and limitations of economic democratization and implementing policies cautiously. Song Won-geun, head of the public policy research office at the Korea Economic Research Institute, said, “Economic democratization should not focus on regulating conglomerates, rather it should be centered on policies for fair trade to facilitate competition.” Cho Dong-geun, an economics professor at Myongji University, said, “Noh should stop the current unreasonable and overheated attempt to revise the Fair Trading Act.”

Shin Wan-seon, a professor of Systems Management Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University who proofread the assessment of leadership in economic agencies, said, “It is important to incorporate creative ideas into policies through listening and communications.”