‘Labor Inefficiency, Immature Financial Market Affecting Korea’s National Competitiveness’

The World Economic Forum (WEF) announced on Sept. 30 that Korea ranked 26^th out of 140 countries in its national competitiveness survey for this year. In the survey, Korea took 11^th place in 2007 and climbed five notches to 19^th in 2012, but dropped to 25^th in 2013, and ranked 26^th last year.

The WEF mentioned the inefficiency of the labor market as one of Korea’s weak spots. According to the organization, Korea ranked 83^rd in this category, and 132^nd when it comes to labor-management cooperation. Besides, it took the 115^th place in the practices of employment and dismissal, 117^th in redundancy costs, and 66^th with regards to the flexibility of wage determinations.

The forum made mention of the immaturity of its financial market, too. In this category, Korea slid seven notches to 87^th. Specifically, it ranked 119^th in the level of loan accessibility, 86^th in the availability of venture capital, and 113^th in the soundness of banks.

In the meantime, the Financial Services Commission refuted the result of the survey via its statement released on the same day. “The survey is made up of mainly polls based on domestic entrepreneurs’ participation, and is not suitable for any objective comparison between countries,” it said, adding, “The Korean government is proceeding with its efforts so that the financial sector can better support the real economy and become a new growth driver of the Korean economy as a whole.”