Criticism on Rosy Outlook

Renowned journalist William Pesek criticized Korea as popping the champagne too early, bragging about its performance during the recent economic crisis in emerging markets and turning a blind eye to the economic challenges ahead of it. 

“I’ve recently visited Korea and talked with some government officials there, and found that they were not racking their brains at all for the crises to come,” he wrote in an August 30 Bloomberg column. In the recent past he had extolled Korea as a country to beat the turmoil with great success, building on its trade account surplus amounting to 4.9% of its national GDP. 

“Korea’s task is that it has to seek a new growth model to take the place of its export-driven systems,” he continued, adding, “It should make investments for innovation and take risks so as to reform its economic structure and distinguish itself from the powerhouses of China and Japan, but, as far as I see, Korea is moving too slow.”

With regard to the recent meeting between President Park Geun-hye and the heads of big businesses, he pointed out that it was a bad omen regarding chaebol reform. “The role of chaebol must be reduced in order for Korea to be more vibrant,” he remarked. “However, President Park Geun-hye is moving in the opposite direction nowadays, ensuring deregulations unlike what she had promised during the election campaigns.”

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