Korea Economic Forum commended for insights on financial policies, defense industry
Around 130 ambassadors, financial leaders and executives of major companies participated in the annual forum, the 17th of its kind, hosted by the Korea JoongAng Daily at the Westin Josun Hotel in central Seoul.
Kim Joo-hyun, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, delivered a keynote speech outlining the situation Korea faces with the global economic difficulties and the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's financial policies meant to tackle these problems.
The second session delved into Korea’s competitiveness in the global defense industry, in a presentation given by the vice minister of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, Kang Hwan-seug.
“It was good to hear about the financial authority’s policies and pending issues, and we will refer to that when establishing management strategies for the bank,” Shinhan Bank CEO Jung Sang-hyuk said. “The forum was a good chance to share domestic and foreign financial and economic issues with major companies and ambassadors.”
The heads and executives of Korea's major banking groups — Jung of Shinhan Bank; Hur Yin, CEO of KB Kookmin Bank; Kang Seong-muk, vice chairman of Hana Financial Group; and Jang Gwang-ik, executive vice president of Woori Financial Group — attended the forum.
“Chairman Kim’s insightful financial policies were a big help,” said Kang of Hana Financial Group.
Foreign envoys said they found the event very informative and useful for learning more about Korea's determination to overcome the economic downturn and call for deeper cooperation in the defense industry. Ambassadors and representatives from 36 countries attended this year's KEF.
“The international community is going through an economic downturn, and it is good to see that Korea is doing well, because Korea is a big economy and its influence on other economies will be plenty,” Ambassador of Pakistan to Korea Nabeel Munir said.
“Pakistan itself is, for example, interested in defense acquisition from Korea,” Munir said, referring to the second session. “So it’s good to know what exactly is on offer and how to go about it.”
Munir added that the cooperation between Pakistan and Korea on the defense front “is already ongoing,” and that they “are trying to expand as well.”
Ecuadorian Ambassador to Korea Carlos Eduardo Emanuele said he is “willing to get some knowledge” about Korea’s defense industry for the “benefits" of both Ecuador and Korea.
“The defense industry is very much concerned about relying on your expertise and your capacity and modern technology to be shared with countries around the world,” Emanuele said. “Particularly, countries like mine, in South America, we are in need of some military equipment — not to fight any war, but we have other kinds of enemies.”
“Like in the seas, for example, we have the need for coast control, and we have been working very closely with the Korean Ministry of Defense and the military heavy industry.”
Serbian Ambassador to Korea Nemanja Grbic acknowledged Korea’s competitiveness in the defense industry by sharing his personal experience.
“I recently had a chance to go to a live-fire drill at a Korean military base and had a chance to personally witness the superior quality of the Korean weaponry and also the Korean soldiers,” Grbic said.
Korea has “some new technological breakthroughs when it comes to self-propelled howitzers, K-9 and more.”
Grbic added that it was interesting to hear that the economy of Korea could be changed by the end of this year, especially in terms of the trade deficits that have been bothering Korea for about a year now.
Omar Abdallah, deputy head of mission of Egypt, echoed the view.
“I attended the forum last year, and I think this year was even better since I could hear about more diverse parts this year, like defense,” Abdallah said.
“Korea and Egypt have a cooperative relationship in defense, so it was good to have more views on the defense industry in Korea.”
“I was impressed that the vice minister could clearly articulate Korea’s policies, support measures and plans for arms exports,” said Yoon Chong-ho, executive vice president at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). “If I were an ambassador of a country, I think I would have felt that Korea's defense business is trustworthy because the arms products seemed to be a product of the Korean government as a whole, rather than individual manufacturers like KAI or Hanwha.”
“And I think that [the ambassadors] were able to see that the government has a much stronger drive for arms sales.”
Ahn Kyung-soo, executive vice president at Hyundai Rotem, complimented the event for offering a connection between macroeconomics and the defense industry.
“As the defense industry is expanding, it closely connects to macroeconomics, diplomacy and politics, and today’s forum explained the trends encompassing the two topics: defense and macroeconomics,” Ahn said.
“Korea’s defense industry has been growing rapidly since last year, and it was good to hear about the country’s status and influence in the global market.”
BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)