South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, the nation's first president with a business background, pledged to cut taxes and speed up deregulation to encourage investment and boost economic growth.
"Unnecessary regulations will be either cast away or reformed as early as possible," Lee said in his inauguration speech in Seoul yesterday. "We must lower taxes as well. Only then will we see investments and consumption increase once again."
After winning a landslide victory on Dec. 19, the former Seoul mayor, 66, has to live up to a campaign promise to increase South Korea's economic growth to 7 percent and double per capita income to US$40,000 by 2017.
PHOTO: AP
Lee is "obviously hoping that his can-do attitude, deregulation and other measures will bring in investment," said Kang Chul-kyu, an economics professor at University of Seoul, and a former chief of the Fair Trade Commission.
The new administration will "create an environment where entrepreneurs can invest freely, and our companies can roam the world market with much excitement," Lee said.
Lee, nicknamed the "Bulldozer" while running Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co, had previously announced a plan to make housing more affordable, his intention to shrink government by merging ministries and a program to improve the English- language skills of students.
The president is banking on non-government investment to fund housing loans and a 16 trillion won (US$16.8 billion) project to build a "Great Waterway," a network of canals through South Korea and branching up to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded 4.9 percent last year from a year earlier, and Lee is aiming for growth of about 6 percent this year, higher than forecasts by the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Korea.
The Great Waterway, which would begin with a 20km link between two rivers, will ultimately become a 2,100km waterway from Busan to Seoul. Lee says he would extend it another 1,000km north from the demilitarized zone if North Korea fulfills its pledge on dismantling nuclear weapons.
Lee's former firm is among those that have met to plan the project.
Lee and his Grand National Party also face the challenge of increasing trade with allies and neighbors. He will encourage the National Assembly to ratify a free-trade agreement with the US signed last June.
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: MOFA demanded Beijing stop its military intimidation and ‘irrational behavior’ that endanger peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region The Presidential Office yesterday called on China to stop all “provocative acts,” saying ongoing Chinese military activity in the nearby waters of Taiwan was a “blatant disruption” of the “status quo” of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Defense officials said they have detected Chinese ships since Monday, both off Taiwan and farther out along the first island chain. They described the formations as two walls designed to demonstrate that the waters belong to China. The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it had detected 53 military aircraft operating around the nation over the past 24 hours, as well
TECHNICAL LEAD: The US needs to boost its missile technology and build a communications network able to withstand hackers, Admiral Samuel Paparo said US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said the US is confident it could defeat China in the Pacific, but that technical advantage is shrinking, the Washington Post reported yesterday. Speaking at the Reagan Defense Forum on Saturday, Paparo said the US needs to maintain its technical lead over China by enhancing missile technology and building a communications network able to withstand hackers, the paper reported. Although the US is able to hit long-distance and difficult targets with its advanced cruise missile system, each launch costs more than US$1 million, he said. By contrast, drones, which are relatively cheap to build and develop, can
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
RSS