By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter

The government has been found to have put pressure on domestic economists and others critical of the economy and its policies over the past few months in the name of the national interest.

Government officials have placed calls to either critics or their superiors in an attempt to force them to stop making unfavorable comments about the domestic economy, grappling with its greatest crisis since the 1997-98 Asian financial market debacle.

At the same time, the government has been waging an all-out war against the foreign media, actively responding to critical reports by the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal and others that it previously ignored.

It has issued a number of press releases refuting media reports, that it claimed distorted the facts of the world's 13th largest economy, and exaggerated the difficulties facing Korea in the wake of the global credit crunch and economic slowdown.

Officials from the National Intelligence Service are said to have held a meeting with the correspondent of the Financial Times here in October at the height of the government's war against foreign media.

Along with critical media, the government has been trying to tame local economists and analysts disapproving of its economic policies, saying negative assessments of economic conditions and government policies should be stopped to help the nation more effectively deal with the current difficulties.

You Jong-il, a professor at the Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy and Management, said several government officials have called him in recent months in a bid to stop him from making negative remarks about the economic situation and the Lee Myung-bak administration's policies. He is a regular debater of government proponents on TV and a columnist for the liberal Hankyoreh and Kyunghyang dailies.

``Some government officials called me in an apparent attempt to shut me up. But I would rather die than shut up. I will continue to say what I believe and criticize the government for its economic mismanagement,'' You told The Korea Times.

The professor is a vocal critic of the Lee administration's tax cuts and other macroeconomic policies, that he claims will only benefit the rich at the expense of the poor. He is advocating greater fiscal spending to help the lower-income bracket and tax hikes on the wealthy.

He is also calling for more restrictions on capital movement in and out of the country, insisting capital market liberalization is the main culprit behind Korea's unstable foreign exchange and financial markets.

``I also heard that several other economists critical of government policies received similar phone calls from officials. I think government bodies are acting in a systematic manner to silence their critics,'' You said.

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance is responsible for the nation's macroeconomic policies, as well as foreign exchange and other international financial market-related rules. The Financial Services Commission draws up policies governing the domestic financial market, and monitors and supervises the market. Senior presidential secretary for economic affairs Bahk Byung-won coordinates policies among economy-related state bodies.

Another Seoul economist, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Korea Times that he was also pressured by the government not to make negative comments on the economy and government officials.

``I think the current administration is trying to control its critics more aggressively than the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration, as it is more obsessed with achieving high economic growth,'' he said. President Lee campaigned and won the presidency on the promise that he would make the Korea economy expand by 7 percent per annum, which turned out to be a wild dream.

The economist also said he received many phone calls from government officials back in April when he strongly criticized the government's weak won policy, designed to boost exports and improve the current account balance. But shortly after, the government was forced to change its stance and start pursuing a strong won policy and curb inflation in the wake of surging oil and other raw material costs.

``If they call me directly, I can just ignore them. But they also call my superiors, who then say that I should be more cautious and careful about what I tell the media. In the time of an economic crisis, I have nowhere to go if I get fired. So, I will remain quiet and exercise caution for the time being,'' he said.

The economist added that Samsung Securities has done what other domestic economic institutes have failed to do by announcing that the Korean economy will shrink by 0.2 percent year-on-year.

``As far as I know, the Bank of Korea and other private research institutes wanted to say that the economy will contract next year. But they can't because of the government. In this respect, what Samsung Securities did was really brave,'' he said.

He then added that his organization plans to cut Korea's 2009 growth projection to zero percent or lower early next year, citing rapidly falling exports and continued sluggish domestic demand.

leehs@koreatimes.co.kr