By Yoon Ja-young
SEJONG CITY ― The government unveiled its three-year-economic plan, Tuesday, after a month's preparation, but it immediately triggered chaos.
The cause appeared to be the lack of coordination between Cheong Wa Dae and the ministries concerned.
In the process, the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok is back in doubt. It also comes at a cost to President Park Geun-hye's reputation.
The original version of the three-year plan, distributed to the media last week, consisted of three key principles, 15 core tasks and 100 projects for implementation.
The finance ministry held a media briefing on the plan last week, during which it said that final discussions with the presidential office had been completed.
However, the plan apparently went through a series of revisions since then, amid rumors that President Park had rejected the original.
Park directly took her plan to the public Tuesday.
Reporters were given a new version of the three-year-plan, which consisted of nine core tasks plus preparation for unification with North Korea.
Among the 100 projects for implementation, 44 were deleted.
The ministry had said that Hyun would hold a detailed briefing after the presidential speech, but this was suddenly cancelled just hours before it was to take place.
Observers note that Park explained the plan in detail for over 40 minutes, and therefore there was no need for a briefing.
Many reporters in the press room evaluated the original version of the three–year plan as too broad. There were no notably new policies, and it was more like a list of policies that the government has been pursuing since last year.
Hence, it is very likely that the president was also disappointed with the original plan.
But Cheong Wa Dae, whether intentionally or not, has seen to it that Hyun is not only just embarrassed but also faces rumors that he has been shown the door ― but hasn't got the message.
The ministry had included a move to overhaul the appointment system of executives at government-run enterprises, to stop so-called parachute appointments. However, this was excluded in Park's speech.
The ministry said that the 44 implementing projects that were excluded in the new version of the plan will also be executed, but they would be given less priority than those included in the final version.
At a previous media briefing, Financial Services Commission Chairman Shin Je-yoon said he would maintain the loan-to-value (LTV) and debt-to-income (DTI) ratios that determine mortgages at current levels for the time being, aiming to prevent a bubble in the housing market.
In the three-year-plan, however, the finance ministry said it would prepare measures to "moderate" the LTV and DTI, hinting it could ease the ratios in the near future.
Some are critical of Park for trying to micromanage policies. Such leadership would be meaningful only if it was based on perfect coordination with the ministries.
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President Park Geun-hye |
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Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok |
The cause appeared to be the lack of coordination between Cheong Wa Dae and the ministries concerned.
In the process, the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok is back in doubt. It also comes at a cost to President Park Geun-hye's reputation.
The original version of the three-year plan, distributed to the media last week, consisted of three key principles, 15 core tasks and 100 projects for implementation.
The finance ministry held a media briefing on the plan last week, during which it said that final discussions with the presidential office had been completed.
However, the plan apparently went through a series of revisions since then, amid rumors that President Park had rejected the original.
Park directly took her plan to the public Tuesday.
Reporters were given a new version of the three-year-plan, which consisted of nine core tasks plus preparation for unification with North Korea.
Among the 100 projects for implementation, 44 were deleted.
The ministry had said that Hyun would hold a detailed briefing after the presidential speech, but this was suddenly cancelled just hours before it was to take place.
Observers note that Park explained the plan in detail for over 40 minutes, and therefore there was no need for a briefing.
Many reporters in the press room evaluated the original version of the three–year plan as too broad. There were no notably new policies, and it was more like a list of policies that the government has been pursuing since last year.
Hence, it is very likely that the president was also disappointed with the original plan.
But Cheong Wa Dae, whether intentionally or not, has seen to it that Hyun is not only just embarrassed but also faces rumors that he has been shown the door ― but hasn't got the message.
The ministry had included a move to overhaul the appointment system of executives at government-run enterprises, to stop so-called parachute appointments. However, this was excluded in Park's speech.
The ministry said that the 44 implementing projects that were excluded in the new version of the plan will also be executed, but they would be given less priority than those included in the final version.
At a previous media briefing, Financial Services Commission Chairman Shin Je-yoon said he would maintain the loan-to-value (LTV) and debt-to-income (DTI) ratios that determine mortgages at current levels for the time being, aiming to prevent a bubble in the housing market.
In the three-year-plan, however, the finance ministry said it would prepare measures to "moderate" the LTV and DTI, hinting it could ease the ratios in the near future.
Some are critical of Park for trying to micromanage policies. Such leadership would be meaningful only if it was based on perfect coordination with the ministries.
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