By Lee Hyo-sik
Korea ranked bottom in policy transparency among 144 countries surveyed by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Korea's 2014 overall competitiveness came in at 26th, down one notch from 2013, according to the WEF report, Sunday.
However, its policy transparency ranked 133rd, lower than those of Cambodia (130), Burundi (131) and Madagascar (132). Among Asian nations, Singapore topped the list; Hong Kong was fourth; Qatar, fifth; and Japan 10th.
This shows how inconsistent policymakers here are when doing their jobs, making it difficult for businesses to operate in Asia's fourth largest economy.
The report also found that Korean politicians have largely failed to earn trust from the public and lagged behind their counterparts in developing countries such as Vietnam and Uganda.
The Korean government has faced criticism for flip-flopping on major policies. This increasing uncertainty is said to have discouraged companies to expand investments and hire new workers over the years.
In a recent survey of 200 foreign companies here, conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 55.2 percent said Korea is not business friendly. Of them, 32.5 percent cited policy inconsistency as the biggest obstacle.
In addition, policymakers recently faced an unprecedented public backlash for changing their positions on the year-end tax settlement system and national health insurance reform.
In January, the government invited strong protests from salaried workers who were forced to pay more taxes following the 2014 tax settlement. To quiet their complaints, government officials decided to make larger tax returns to wage earners by changing the tax regime, retracting their initial plan to collect more taxes from employees.
In addition, policymakers decided to scrap the planned overhaul of the national health insurance.
The government had sought to collect large premiums from high wage earners, while lessening financial burden on the self-employed. But to appease salaried workers, the government decided not to make changes to the state health insurance system, inviting complaints this time from independent business owners.
The WEF said that Korean politicians have a long way to go before earning trust from the public.
In 2014, public confidence in politicians here ranked 97th, up 15 notches from 2013, but it still lagged far behind major countries.
Local politicians were viewed less trustworthy than their counterparts in Vietnam (49) and Uganda (94).
The nation's judicial independence was rated 82nd out of 144 countries, lower than those of China (60) and Senegal (80), while Korea's legal system effectiveness ranked 113th, down 12 notches from 2013.
Korea ranked bottom in policy transparency among 144 countries surveyed by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Korea's 2014 overall competitiveness came in at 26th, down one notch from 2013, according to the WEF report, Sunday.
However, its policy transparency ranked 133rd, lower than those of Cambodia (130), Burundi (131) and Madagascar (132). Among Asian nations, Singapore topped the list; Hong Kong was fourth; Qatar, fifth; and Japan 10th.
This shows how inconsistent policymakers here are when doing their jobs, making it difficult for businesses to operate in Asia's fourth largest economy.
The report also found that Korean politicians have largely failed to earn trust from the public and lagged behind their counterparts in developing countries such as Vietnam and Uganda.
The Korean government has faced criticism for flip-flopping on major policies. This increasing uncertainty is said to have discouraged companies to expand investments and hire new workers over the years.
In a recent survey of 200 foreign companies here, conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 55.2 percent said Korea is not business friendly. Of them, 32.5 percent cited policy inconsistency as the biggest obstacle.
In addition, policymakers recently faced an unprecedented public backlash for changing their positions on the year-end tax settlement system and national health insurance reform.
In January, the government invited strong protests from salaried workers who were forced to pay more taxes following the 2014 tax settlement. To quiet their complaints, government officials decided to make larger tax returns to wage earners by changing the tax regime, retracting their initial plan to collect more taxes from employees.
In addition, policymakers decided to scrap the planned overhaul of the national health insurance.
The government had sought to collect large premiums from high wage earners, while lessening financial burden on the self-employed. But to appease salaried workers, the government decided not to make changes to the state health insurance system, inviting complaints this time from independent business owners.
The WEF said that Korean politicians have a long way to go before earning trust from the public.
In 2014, public confidence in politicians here ranked 97th, up 15 notches from 2013, but it still lagged far behind major countries.
Local politicians were viewed less trustworthy than their counterparts in Vietnam (49) and Uganda (94).
The nation's judicial independence was rated 82nd out of 144 countries, lower than those of China (60) and Senegal (80), while Korea's legal system effectiveness ranked 113th, down 12 notches from 2013.
