Yoon calls for support from developing nations

‘Empathy more than sympathy needed’ for G20 to bear fruit

Yoon Jeung-hyun,
Minister of Strategy and Finance

‘Empathy than sympathy’ needed for Gyeongju meeting to bear fruits

By Cho Jin-seo

In a rare case for a finance minister of a G20 country, Yoon Jeung-hyun confesses that he had not known how to eat a banana.
No need to feel shame. It was not only him, but all of his friends at Seoul National University’s law department who were once invited to a rich friend’s house, one day back in the 1960s.

“The mother of the rich girl treated us with a tray of bananas, but none of us dared to touch them. The mother left the room, thinking that we had already eaten and were full,” he recalled during a lunch with Korean officials stationed in Washington, one of the participants told The Korea Times.

“In fact, we didn’t touch them because we had never seen a banana before. But we didn’t want to let the woman know that.”
Moments after she left the room, the daughter of the rich family got it. Pretending not to know what was going on, she picked up one of the bananas, peeled the skin and bit the flesh inside, so Yoon and his friends could follow without feeling shamed.

The moral of the story is not that you have to peel a banana before eating it, or that Yoon and his friends at the elite school were exceptionally poor. Back in the 1960s, South Korea was poorer than North Korea so they were not alone to find the banana uncomfortable. A lack of dollars meant the government had banned the import of exotic fruits such as bananas and pineapples, saving them only for those who were very rich or well-connected.

Rather, the banana anecdote is the minister’s version of Marie Antoinette’s bread and brioche fable.

“The rich can hardly understand how the poor live and what they really want. So we, as public servants, have to try to think from the poor’s position all the time,” the official quoted Yoon to this reporter hours after a lunch with the minister.

More than four decades later, Yoon is now the finance minister of a $1 trillion economy. Moreover, he has been the chairman of the G20 ministers’ meeting since June, meaning that the task of steering the world’s economy in the right direction is upon his 64-year-old shoulders until this November. Still, he cannot forget about the bitter-sweet banana from his young days.

The modern history of Korea makes him the proper person for his job at the G20, Yoon believes. The G20 summit was born in 2008 as an extension of G7 and G8 meetings, as rich countries realized that they could not change the global economy without the participation of less well-off nations. Korea, with its rapid transformation from a poor to a developed nation, understands the positions of both the rich and the poor world, he said.

“We are the first emerging country to host the G20 summit, so we are trying to give a fair chance to both emerging and developed nations to raise their voices,” Yoon said in an e-mail interview with The Korea Times this Thursday. “Emerging countries are appreciating our efforts, and they are giving us continued support.”

When he talks about being fair, and an advocate of developing economies, he really means it. Over the past month, as rich countries began to complain about China’s and other developing nations’ currency policies, Yoon did his best to keep his calm and rejected any provocative statements of a “currency war.”

“Emerging and developing nations have an expanding role and responsibility in the world economy, but the G8 rich countries have not reflected this change,” he said.

“The G20 is different from the G8. It has legitimacy as a balanced international coordination system, by representing not only the G8 but also the major emerging nations and countries representing each geographic region.”

As the Seoul summit is only 19 days away, Yoon says he sometimes feels the burden is too heavy to carry by himself, as the G20 must prove that it is not just another handshaking event for political leaders.

“I feel this big responsibility ahead of the summit, with the whole world paying attention to it,” he said. “Preparing for the summit, I have come to know that this is not just another official meeting of leaders. The G20 was formed during the global financial crisis, and it has achieved substantial results in hoisting the global economy out from the crisis.

He continued that at this critical stage, he needs support from other countries.

“With my fellow ministers, I have had many opportunities to share opinions by having numerous official meetings and also personal ones. I sincerely believe that we all want to improve the economic conditions of our respective nations and find new growth engines. I also believe that we can see the bigger picture, above just our domestic economy, since we have all shared the experience of overcoming the global financial crisis by helping and trusting each other,” he said.

“I need help from member nations, to make this G20 a forum for global growth and development. I sincerely ask for the active cooperation from my fellow ministers.”

For cooperation to occur, he stressed that empathy, not sympathy, was important. One example was a meeting with African nations. In a meeting with reporters in Washington earlier this month, Yoon got angry when one of the officials present talked about “resource diplomacy” in African nations.

“Don’t ever mention that. If we want to help, then we just help. We should not say that we want something in return. Think about Korea’s own history when we were at the receiving end of foreign aid. Would you feel happy if rich countries came to Korea and tried to take our natural resources in return for the aid they offered? Certainly not,” he said, with face a bit flushed, probably due to emotion or maybe a glass of beer he had before.

“We must tell other countries that we understand what poverty is. That way, we can earn their trust. I am proud, that many countries have started to think that way,” he said.

Maybe, he should think about serving his fellow ministers in Gyeongju trays of bananas.

Yoon Jeung-hyun
Born: September 19, 1946
Hometown: Masan, South Gyeongsang Province
B. A. in law, Seoul National University
M. A. in public affairs, University of Wisconsin

Since 2009: Minister of Strategy and Finance
2004: Chairman of Financial Services Commission
1999: Executive director, Asian Development Bank
1998: Dean, National Tax College