Korea to share development knowhow

Korea to share development knowhow

Park Eung-kyuk, president of the Korea Institute of Public Administration, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times on Oct. 12 at his office in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul Green growth for sustainable development will be future paradigm By Jung Sung-ki South Korea rose from the ashes of the war to become one of the world’s economic powers. Noticeably, the once aid-recipient recently became an international provider of development assistance, as part of efforts to become a “Global Korea.” Next month, the Korean government will host the fourth G20 Summit of major economies to become the first Asian and non-G7 country to host that meeting of world leaders. Park Eung-kyuk, president of the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), said now is the time to share the knowhow of the country’s social economic development with underdeveloped and developing nations. “Korea is the only country whose status has been upgraded to a major donor from an aid recipient,” Park said in an interview with The Korea Times Oct. 12 at the KIPA office in southern Seoul. “Having a viewpoint from a nation that once received international assistance, South Korea is the only country that can play a bridging role between developed and developing nations,” he said. Against that backdrop, Park noted, South Korea has become a role model for underdeveloped and developing nations. Park said, “South Korea has become a role model for developing nations in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. Recently, even President Obama of the United States lauded South Korea’s education and employment systems.” This year, high-ranking government officials from China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Vietnam and Belarus visited Seoul to learn Korea’s administrative systems, he said. The nations are interested in Korea’s e-Government network, management of public servants and their evaluation system. The e-Government of Korea is the most popular area, while underdeveloped nations are eager to learning about the “Saemaeul” or New Village Movement, a government-run rural development campaign dating back to the 1970s. South Korea signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Vietnam and Belarus earlier this year on the E-Government program. The MoU covers a wide spectrum of areas ranging from conducting scientific research on public administration to innovating activities in the sphere of theory and practice on administrative skills through holding international seminars and educational events. After building the infrastructure for the E-Government project between the 1980s and 1990s, the Korean government started implementing the program by 2000. “Korea’s e-government network system is referred to as one of the best in the world,” he said. “We can share our e-Government technology with developing nations in a customized manner.” KIPA conference  KIPA is to hold an international conference to share Korea’s development models Oct. 21. Scores of domestic and international experts will participate in the conference, titled The Driving Force Behind Korean Success and the Government’s Role, at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul. The conference aims to discuss Korea’s unique experience and knowhow of development. Foreign ambassadors and students from developing nations will also attend the seminar. “Korea’s development had mostly been focused on economic issues, but this conference is to address a wide range of non-economy issues, such as politics, administrative systems, and social and cultural affairs,” said Park. “The conference will also offer an opportunity to highlight the roles of South Korea, chairman country of the G20 meeting, as a global leader.” Korean models The KIPA chief cited a few “driving forces” behind Korea’s development since the 1950-53 Korean War. Among them are the passion of the leadership and the government’s roles, can-do spirit, the enthusiasm for education and civil campaigns to develop the nation, and the team spirit originated from the military culture. He also cited the importance of political stability and corporate responsibility. “To construct a building, we need sands, cement, steel and skills to mix those materials,” he said. “Nation building is similar to that. There should be a good mix of driving forces.” He reiterated the need of stable security and public order. “The Korean War devastated the country and that was one of the worst tragedies. But the war also provided South Korea with the opportunity to recognize the importance of national security and build up its own military power based on the Korea-U.S. alliance,” said Park. Global competitiveness  The government’s bigger roles in social affairs in the past also helped Korea’s fast development, Park said. “Despite some negative effects from the ‘selection-and-concentration’ strategy, it’s undeniable that that strategy helped South Korea’s economic development substantially in a short period of time though the country suffered limited resources,” he said. “It was a unique development model in that the government focused more on economic development than on developing democracy,” he continued. “Now the country is more dependent on the creativity side of the civil sector.” The government’s attempts on environmental conservation, human rights improvement and fight against corruption were also key locomotives for the Korean development. Park expected Korea to actively participate in a global “green growth” campaign, a future development model. “Future growth hinges on green growth and sustainable development, not on fast or high growth,” he said. “The development paradigm is changing under the theme of ‘small is beautiful.’” President Lee Myung-bak unveiled a ``green growth'' strategy Aug. 15 in 2008, marking the 60th anniversary of the nation's founding. He touted ``low carbon, green growth'' as the core of the country's new vision. He vowed to increase energy self-sufficiency through overseas exploration from the current 5 percent to more than 50 percent by 2050. Efforts will also be made to raise the use of new and renewable energy from the current 2 percent to more than 30 percent by 2050, with increased research funds for ``green technology.”

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr