Aides to draw Park’s economic policy

People are now paying keen attention to what direction President-elect Park Geun-hye will steer the Korean economy that has been suffering from sluggish growth due to multiple downside risks both at home and abroad.

Policymakers and business leaders are looking to what her economic policies will be.

One way to guess this is to look at the economic experts, scholars and economics professor-turned-lawmakers who assisted Park with her campaign pledges on economic policy. She has long vowed to assist the underprivileged while not imposing heavy burdens on the wealthy.

One of the most notable figures is Kim Jong-in, chief strategist of the Park camp in charge of economic and social campaign pledges. He is chairman of the Committee to Pursue People’s Happiness, which played an important role in shaping Park’s election pledges.

The President-elect persuaded him to join her camp with repeated requests, speaking especially highly of his insight on “democratization of the economy.” Kim is best known for his drive to reform the nation’s conglomerates.

But political analysts think that his influence in forming Park’s economic initiatives could be limited as his radical plans would face internal opposition. They say it will bear watching how he keeps in step with Park’s other aides.

Another key player is Sogang University professor Kim Kwang-doo. He is head of Park’s think tank, the National Future Research Center, a policy research group responsible for having incited the “battle of welfare policies” among rival parties in this year’s general election.

At the center, Kim created the slogan “reducing tax and regulations and creating an upright legal order” when Park competed to be the Grand National Party’s presidential candidate in 2007.

But he has often locked horns with Rep. Lee Hahn-koo, the floor leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, regarding how to deal with conglomerates.

Lee is a close aide of Park’s, often dubbed her economics teacher. He worked at the finance ministry for a long time before joining the conservative party.

Park is also supported by professors-turned politicians, including Rep. Ahn Chong-bum, Kang Seok-hoon and Rhee Chong-hun.

Former Sungkyunkwan University professor Ahn, and Kang, a former Sungshin Women’s University professor, are economic experts close to Park, and have helped her with tax and fiscal issues, while Rhee, previously a professor at Myungji and a member of the Committee to Pursue People’s Happiness has offered advice on labor and employment policies.

Many incumbent professors have also backed Park from when she ran for her party’s presidential nomination five years ago.

Shin Se-don of Sookmyung Women’s University, Hong Gi-take of Chung Ang University, and Ok Dong-seok of Incheon University have all devoted themselves to Park’s blueprint for the economy. <The Korea Times/Kim Tae-jong>