Mr. 401 urges government to maintain stimulus
Published: 28 Aug. 2009, 20:14
Sakong Il
It was the 401st edition of the Tuesday event, and in Korean sa gong il means four-zero-one.
The chairman argued that it was still too early for the government to end the current economic stimulus program. Korea is currently experiencing the fastest recovery among OECD member countries because of the aggressive government measures that began late last year, he said.
Sakong is an unusual last name in Korea, and the chairman is known to have fun with it on occasion. For example, as the forum opened the chairman said that while he served in the finance ministry in the late 1980s his room number was 401.
An economic and financial expert, Sakong has been heading up the international trade association since February. He earned his doctorate in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles and served as the president of the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade in 1983. Sakong then became the senior economic secretary at the Blue House from late 1983 through May 1987. Later, from 1987 to December 1988, Sakong worked at the Finance Ministry.
When the Lee Myung-bak administration took office, Sakong was tapped to head the Presidential Council on National Competitiveness, a duty he performed until resuming the position as chairman of the international trade association.
In his speech Tuesday Sakong said that the United States in the late 1930s and Japan in the 1990s saw deflation picking up speed as they decided on a retrenchment policy instead of a stimulus package. Thus, the chairman of the international trade association said, the government should continue the current stimulus policy.
By Lee Ho-jeong [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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