Latest news with #KooYunCheol
Forbes
17 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Elon Musk's DOGE Gimmicks Have No Place In South Korea
Pedestrians cross a road in Seoul, South Korea. SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg New South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has chosen a finance minister who wants to run Asia's fourth-largest economy like a business. Finance minister nominee Koo Yun-cheol vows to manage the national economy with a keen focus on returns on investment and making public spending more productive. As Koo explains it, 'South Korea must pursue real growth, and that requires a fundamental overhaul. We must run the economy like 'Corporation Korea,' where the people are our shareholders.' As I read these words, I can't help but think of what Elon Musk tried, and failed at spectacularly, in the U.S., with his Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, ruse as part of the Donald Trump 2.0 presidency. To be sure, Koo seems like a sharp and worthy candidate to run the Ministry of Finance. Before his current stint as an economics professor at Seoul National University, Koo was a seasoned Finance Ministry bureaucrat. And one hardly expects Koo to, if confirmed, show up at work, Musk-style, in black T-shirts, baseball caps and chainsaws gleefully firing workers and chopping government agencies. Yet Koo's opening foray as Korea's top economic official leaves much to be desired. Clearly, this idea that a democratic nation should be run like a business has been proven wildly wrong at almost every turn. Trump's first and now his second presidency is proof enough of the danger of corporatizing government. Didn't Thailand try this with billionaire-turned-prime-minister Thaksin Shinawatra from 2001 to 2006? Didn't Italy also learn this lesson the hard way with Silvio Berlusconi? What about Korea in 2008, when voters turned to Lee Myung-bak, former CEO of Hyundai Group's engineering and construction units, to make the economy more dynamic? A decade ago, Australians turned to Malcolm Turnbull, a Goldman Sachs bigwig-turned-national leader. After 244 days in office, the Australian newspaper ran a critique that spoke for millions of voters unhappy with his leadership, headlined: 'Malcolm Turnbull is Australia's Prime Minister, Not CEO.' Years before that, the U.S. got a glimpse at an MBA presidency during the George W. Bush years. The Bush administration was loaded with former chieftains, including Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. Between the disastrous Iraq invasion and the subprime crisis, it's an era all too many Americans try to forget. Enter President Lee Jae Myung's new government in Seoul. Team Lee is known to favor more expansionary fiscal policy. And to the table, Koo claims to bring a strong focus on artificial intelligence. In April, he was quoted as saying that 'Korea's golden time lies in the next five years — our future depends on AI.' Yet it also depends on Koo pretty quickly realizing that Korea doesn't need to be run like a company. It needs to rein in the corporate giants that run the place. It's the dominance of a handful of corporate giants that shackles the stock market with the dreaded 'Korea discount.' Lee, to his credit, has indeed talked about reining in the family-owned conglomerates, or chaebols, that long towered over the nation. His talk of championing small-and-medium-size companies and shareholders has alarm bells ringing in the corporate suites of Samsung, Hyundai, LG, SK, Lotte and other Goliaths. Korea, after all, isn't called 'Samsung Nation' for nothing. Yet pretty much every Korean president of the last 25 years took off pledging chaebol reform. But each, to varying degrees, realized the magnitude of the task and opted to work with the chaebol to hasten economic growth — or just tolerate the status quo. Will Lee be a different kind of Korea Inc. leader? Let's hope so. But his chosen finance minister misdiagnosing the challenge so early isn't promising, as these things go.
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
South Korea's Lee names Koo Yun-cheol finance minister, makes other picks
South Korea needs to take measures to support its economy in the short term as it continues tariff talks with the U.S., its likely new finance minister Koo Yun-cheol said on Sunday after being nominated for the role by President Lee Jae Myung. Koo, a former vice finance minister, still needs to go through parliament hearings before being confirmed as finance minister. Other ministerial appointments were also announced by the president's office on Sunday. "We need to take pre-emptive measures and prepare for situations such as the current tariff negotiations with the United States," Koo told a news conference. "Through this process, we plan to actively and proactively respond to the difficulties that the South Korean economy faces in the short term," he said. Trade envoy Yeo Han-koo returned home on Sunday after holding the first high-level tariff talks with his U.S. counterparts since President Lee took office on June 4. South Korea has sought exemptions from U.S. President Donald Trump's high tariffs on imports of automobiles and steel products, as well as a 25% "reciprocal" levy on the U.S. ally that is currently paused for negotiations. Yeo said his trip helped build mutual trust to expedite the negotiations and make friends in Washington. Asked if the July 8 deadline for negotiations over tariffs was still valid, Yeo said every possibility was left open. "In fact, the situation in the United States is very fluid. So, for now, I can say that all possibilities are open," he told reporters. The U.S. has demanded that South Korea improve nontariff barriers particularly in the agricultural and digital services sectors, according to South Korean officials. New finance minister Koo is widely known as a policy expert, having served in different positions across government and has authored books on South Korea's innovation and growth, most recently on artificial intelligence, Lee's chief of staff, Kang Hoon-sik, told a briefing. Among other ministerial positions, Kim Jung-kwan, president of power plant builder Doosan Enerbility and a veteran bureaucrat in economics, energy and public policy, was nominated to be industry minister. Kim fits the role to realize President Lee's "energy mix philosophy." Kang said, referring to the new president's aim to balance nuclear power and renewable energy. The former head of South Korea's disease control agency, Jeong Eun-kyeong, was nominated for health minister. She was highly praised for her response to the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2020. Cabinet nominations in South Korea must be vetted by hearings in parliament. But presidents may appoint their nominees without parliament's approval, and Lee's Democratic Party has a majority in parliament.
CNA
2 days ago
- Business
- CNA
South Korea's Lee names Koo Yun-cheol finance minister, makes other picks
SEOUL: South Korea needs to take measures to support its economy in the short term as it continues tariff talks with the US, its likely new finance minister Koo Yun-cheol said on Sunday (Jun 29) after being nominated for the role by President Lee Jae Myung. Koo, a former vice finance minister, still needs to go through parliament hearings before being confirmed as finance minister. Other ministerial appointments were also announced by the president's office on Sunday. "We need to take pre-emptive measures and prepare for situations such as the current tariff negotiations with the United States," Koo told a press conference. "Through this process, we plan to actively and proactively respond to the difficulties that the South Korean economy faces in the short term," he said. Trade envoy Yeo Han-koo returned home on Sunday after holding the first high-level tariff talks with his US counterparts since President Lee took office on Jun 4. South Korea has sought exemptions from US President Donald Trump's high tariffs on imports of automobiles and steel products, as well as a 25 per cent "reciprocal" levy on the US ally that is currently paused for negotiations. Yeo said his trip helped build mutual trust to expedite the negotiations and make friends in Washington. Asked if the Jul 8 deadline for negotiations over tariffs was still valid, Yeo said every possibility was left open. "In fact, the situation in the United States is very fluid. So, for now, I can say that all possibilities are open," he told reporters. The US has demanded that South Korea improve non-tariff barriers particularly in the agricultural and digital services sectors, according to South Korean officials. MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS New finance minister Koo is widely known as a policy expert, having served in different positions across government and has authored books on South Korea's innovation and growth, most recently on artificial intelligence, Lee's chief of staff, Kang Hoon-sik, told a briefing. Among other ministerial positions, Kim Jung-kwan, president of power plant builder Doosan Enerbility and a veteran bureaucrat in economics, energy and public policy, was nominated to be industry minister. Kim fits the role to realise President Lee's "energy mix philosophy", Kang said, referring to the new president's aim to balance nuclear power and renewable energy. The former head of South Korea's disease control agency, Jeong Eun-kyeong, was nominated for health minister. She was highly praised for her response to the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2020. Cabinet nominations in South Korea must be vetted by hearings in parliament. But presidents may appoint their nominees without parliament's approval, and Lee's Democratic Party has a majority in parliament.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Korea's Lee Nominates Finance Minister to Tackle Growth, Trade
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung nominated Koo Yun-cheol as the next finance minister, turning to a veteran bureaucrat to guide the economy at a time of sluggish growth and mounting trade pressures from the Trump administration. 'The president nominated Koo Yun-cheol, a widely recognized policy expert as finance minister as he is a figure who has long contemplated Korea's innovation and is well-suited to chart a path for national growth,' Kang Hoon-sik, Lee's chief of staff, said in a televised press conference Sunday.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
South Korea's Lee nominates new finance, industry ministers
SEOUL, June 29 (Reuters) - South Korea President Lee Jae Myung has nominated a former vice finance minister, Koo Yun-cheol, to be finance minister, his office said on Sunday. Koo is widely known as a policy expert, serving different positions across the government and authoring books on South Korea's innovation and growth, Lee's chief of staff, Kang Hoon-sik, told a briefing. Among other ministerial positions, Lee named Kim Jung-kwan, president of power plant builder Doosan Enerbility and a veteran bureaucrat in the energy sector, to be industry minister. The former head of South Korea's disease control agency, Jeong Eun-kyeong, was nominated as health minister. She was highly praised for her response to the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming one of the Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2020.
