Stronger Cultural Power to Polish National Image

Hansun Foundation for Freedom & Happiness has issued the 2009 Hansun Total National Power (TNP) Index. This is the fourth and last in a series of articles which analyze all aspects involving national power, and present tasks and strategies the nation should tackle to sharpen its competitiveness. ― ED.

By Cho Jae-hyon

Staff Reporter

South Korea's hosting of the G20 summit in November next year underscores its increased diplomatic and economic power in the world. As the Seoul Summer Olympics did in 1988, it is expected to provide a boon to its economy and image.

The upcoming summit is also indicative of a power shift to emerging economies from the affluent G8 advanced economies.

With the United States and other developed nations drawing criticism for igniting the latest economic crisis with their loose financial regulations, Korea needs to take the global slump as an opportunity to move forward and catch up with its bigger rivals.

Korea overcame the Asian financial crisis faster than any other nations in the region in the late 1980s. Likewise, it is showing the fastest recovery among the G20 nations this time.

Hopes are growing that its successful bid to host the summit will add fresh momentum for the country to pull itself out of the prolonged economic slump and gear up for another expansion cycle.

President Lee Myung-bak said Wednesday that the country should use the hosting of the summit as leverage to join the ranks of developed nations.

However, there are many obstacles Korea must tackle to achieve that goal. Over the last half century, the country has shown one of the fastest economic growth patterns in the world. But there is no guarantee that it will continue to become the hero of a success story.

The Hansun research team cautioned that a number of countries, which once reached the threshold of developed nationhood, retreated at the last moment, failing to overcome internal economic, social and cultural problems.

It said that Korea also faces ``many negative factors'' that will keep the country from sustained growth.