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Wed, August 10, 2022 | 05:32
Business
Korea's policy transparency at bottom
韓 정책투명성 캄보디아보다 낙후…정치인 신뢰 우간다보다 낮아
Posted : 2015-02-01 15:39
Updated : 2015-02-01 19:10
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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.


韓 정책투명성 캄보디아보다 낙후…정치인 신뢰 우간다보다 낮아

한국 정부의 정책 결정 과정 투명성은 캄보디아보다 낮을 정도로 전 세계 최하위권에 머물러 있는 것으로 나타났다. 

정치인에 대한 신뢰는 베트남, 우간다보다 낮은 것으로 조사됐다.

최근 연말정산 혼란과 건강보험료 부과 체계 개선 백지화 등 오락가락하는 국가 정책 결정 과정은 이를 단적으로 보여준 사례라는 평가가 나온다. 

1일 정부 부처 등에 따르면 지난해 세계경제포럼(WEF)이 발표한 2014년 국가경쟁력 평가에서 한국은 144개 국가 중 26위를 차지했다. 전년보다 1단계 하락했다.

부문별로 보면 재정수지·인플레이션 등 거시경제(9위→7위)와 시장규모(12위→11위), 기업혁신(17위→17위) 등은 상위권에 속했다.

그러나 국가의 정책과 관련한 제도적 요인 부문은 중하위권인데다가 순위가 8계단(74위→82위)이나 떨어졌다. 

제도적 요인은 2012년 62위에서 계속 추락하고 있다.

특히 제도적 요인 부문 중 정부 정책 결정의 투명성은 지난해 133위로 최하위권을 차지했다. 전년보다는 4계단 올라섰지만, 144개국 중 한국보다 뒤처진 나라는 11개국에 불과했다. 

정책 결정의 투명성에서 한국이 받은 점수는 7점 만점에 3.1점으로 낙제 수준이다. 1위를 차지한 싱가포르의 점수는 6.1점으로 한국의 2배다. 아시아권에서는 싱가포르 외에 홍콩(4위), 카타르(5위), 일본(10위)의 순위가 높다.

한국은 정책결정의 투명성에서 캄보디아(130위), 브룬디(131위), 마다가스카르(132위)보다도 낮은 점수를 받았다. 기니(134위), 아르헨티나(135위), 미얀마(136위)보다는 약간 앞선 수준이다.  

법체계의 효율성(규제개선 측면)에서는 작년에 2.8점을 받아 2013년 101위에서 1년만에 113위로 12계단 떨어졌다.  

1위를 차지한 핀란드(5.6점)는 물론 19위 일본(4.4점)과 47위 중국(3.6점)에 크게 미달했고, 101위 네팔(2.9점)에도 뒤졌다.  

공무원 의사결정의 편파성에서도 2.9점을 받아 82위를 차지했다.

1위 카타르(5.6점), 2위 뉴질랜드(5.5점)는 물론 7위 일본(5.1점), 22위 중국(4.1점)에 크게 떨어졌다. 51위 잠비아(3.4점)와 74위 베트남(3.0점)에도 밀렸다.

정치인에 대한 공공의 신뢰는 전년보다 15계단 뛰어올랐지만, 97위(2.4점)로 여전히 하위권을 벗어나지 못했다.  

점수로는 1위 싱가포르(6.2점)와 2위 카타르(6.1점)의 절반에도 미치지 못했고, 49위 베트남(3.4점)과 94위 우간다(2.5점)보다 낮았다.

사법부 독립성 역시 82위(3.5점)에 불과했다.

1위는 뉴질랜드(6.7점)가 차지했는데, 우리나라는 60위 중국(4.0점)과 80위 세네갈보다 사법부가 독립돼 있지 않다는 평가를 받았다.

한국 정부의 정책에 대한 불신은 외국계 기업에서도 나타난다.

대한상공회의소가 지난해 초 외국계 기업 201개사를 대상으로 투자환경 인식을 조사한 결과, '국내 투자여건이 열악하다'는 응답은 55.2%에 달했다.

투자환경을 부정적으로 평가한 외국계 기업들은 그 이유로 '정책 일관성 부족'(32.5%)을 가장 많이 꼽았다.  

김상조 한성대 무역학과 교수는 '정책이 일관성이 있다는 믿음을 줘야 시장의 경제 주체들이 거기에 맞춰 자신의 행동을 조정하는데, 기조가 흔들리면 경제주체들이 따라가는 것이 아니라 그것을 바꾸려고 로비를 하게 된다'고 말했다. (연합뉴스)
Emailleehs@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
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