Official: Korea can buff its brand at the G-20 Summit
Published: 07 Jan. 2010, 21:49
Sakong Il
“The era of a new global order is opening in front of us, and we must seize this opportunity to become a core member of the international community,” said Sakong.
Sakong, who traveled the world last year as Lee’s special envoy, met with the JoongAng Ilbo and JoongAng Daily recently for an interview.
After the government formed the Presidential Committee for the G-20 Summit, Sakong, who also heads the Korea International Trade Association, was appointed as the preparation committee’s chairman.
“The crisis prompted by the financial meltdown in the United States proved that the global economy is tightly intertwined differently than in the past,” said Sakong. “The governments learned that it is crucial to coordinate their policies. Although the crisis appears to have now calmed, the Group of 20’s role has become even more crucial as the premier forum.”
Sakong, an economist who had once served as the International Monetary Fund’s special adviser, said there should be no doubt that the Group of 20 will replace the Group of Seven.
“The imperative issues of the global trade imbalance and climate change cannot be addressed without China and India, but they are not G-7 nations,” Sakong said. “More and more such problems will arise. The G-20 is starting with economic issues, but eventually it will become the forum for dealing with political and security issues.”
In the era of globalization, Korea’s hosting of the G-20 Summit will bring about new challenges and opportunities for the nation, he said. “Korea has no experience in managing the world order or creating global rules,” he said. “Until now, we followed directives agreed by international forums. But now, we have become a rule maker, and this is a challenge and an opportunity.”
Sakong said the nation is ready to embrace the change, but it cannot succeed without politicians’ help.
“If the politicians cooperate, then the only thing left for Korea is to fly high,” he said.
Korea’s chairmanship and hosting of the G-20 Summit are the best chance to overcome the so-called “Korea discount” and create a “Korea premium,” he said.
The nation has long been concerned that foreign investors and customers have a negative view of the country, thus depressing the prices of equities, bonds and other assets as well as exports.
“Improving Korea’s prestige may be difficult to quantify, but let me give you an example,” Sakong said. “Let’s say that we export goods worth $400 billion, but the Korea discount influenced the price by 1 percent. Then, the loss is $4 billion. When the nation’s prestige goes up with the G-20 Summit and that 1 percent discount disappears, then it’s like having an additional $4 billion in exports.”
Sakong said Samsung and other global conglomerates often promote products without advertising “made in Korea,” but the successful hosting of the G-20 summit will change that.
To achieve a “Korea premium,” it is key for the government to select an appropriate agenda for the November summit to bring about a constructive outcome, he said. “Such efforts are called the ‘Korea Initiative.’ That will heighten the brand value of Korea and upgrade political, social and cultural affairs.”
In addition to the ongoing issues of global financial reform, the Korea Initiative will focus on resolving global trade imbalances, extending credit to emerging economies, providing support to developing nations and creating a global financial safety net, Sakong said.
“And here comes Korea’s role. Governments agree in general that the issues should be mutually agreed upon, but they differ on how to tackle the problems,” he said. “Korea needs to coordinate between them and create a consensus. To this end, we are also contacting G-20 nations and major international organizations, such as the IMF and World Bank, as well as the countries that are not members of the G-20.”
While promoting the Korea Initiative aggressively, Sakong was careful in discussing hosting a G-20 secretariat in Korea.
“The need to systemize the G-20 has been discussed in academia. Many countries do not welcome the idea of creating a new bureaucracy, and it may be premature to push forward the creation of a G-20 secretariat,” he said. “Only at the September summit was the G-20 pronounced as the global premier forum and that a summit would be held annually,” Sakong said. “It is a delicate issue to be pondered after the forum takes root.”
Sakong said it is also important for Korea to ready protocols, conference hosting, accommodations and transportation for the summit.
“About 10,000 will visit Korea, including 35 heads of state and international organizations,” he said.
While the G-20 may not be a familiar event to everyone, Sakong said he wants to use a very common example to stress the meaning of Korea’s hosting of the summit.
“Think about an average family preparing for a banquet at home. The family may have not many things to show, but the parents will clean up the house and ready their children to become presentable to the guests. After the guests leave and the party is over, the house and the children are naturally upgraded,” Sakong said. “It’s the same for Korea’s hosting of the G-20 summit, and I am encouraging Koreans to upgrade their country through this event.”
By Ser Myo-ja [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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