International conference on Korea’s development model opens today
By Jung Sung-ki
About 30 experts on Korean and regional issues will discuss and examine how the Republic of Korea has transformed itself into one of the world’s most democratic and prosperous countries over the past six decades in an international forum in Seoul today.
The Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), a think tank affiliated with the Prime Minister’s Office, will hold the International Conference on Korea Development Model at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul.
The Korea Times, the leading English daily in Korea, will co-host the one-day forum. The conference comes ahead of the landmark G20 summit to be held in Seoul next month.
The meeting, in particular, is intended to help policymakers, envoys and students from underdeveloped and developing nations, namely “non-G20” countries, learn the inside story of Korea’s “Rags-to-Riches” success from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Since February, The Korea Times has run a 60-part series of articles detailing what has made South Korea achieve its fairly-tale success story. Pieces were contributed by scholars from home and abroad, mostly professors currently associated with foreign universities and research institutes, armed with a neutral perception of Korea.
Today’s conference will be divided into three sessions — Korea’s development and the role of the government; Development model cases in the Korean context; and Application of the Korean development model to other countries.
Cho Lee-jay, chairman of the Northeast Asia Economic Forum in Hawaii, will deliver a keynote speech.
Key presenters include Oh Kongdan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; Korea Times columnist Michael Breen; Hwang Hie-shin, a principal research fellow at KIPA; columnist Choi Yearn-hong; Andrew Salmon, a contributing writer for CNN and the Times; Lee Jung-hee, a research fellow at KIPA; and Ahn Choong-young, a distinguished professor at Chung-Ang University.
Other presenters are Bernard Rowan, a professor at Chicago State University; Irina Novikova, a professor at Belarus Academy of Public Administration; and Yun Mi-kyung, a professor at the Catholic University of Korea.
Discussants include John Endicott, president of Woosong University; Lee Jay-min, a professor at Yonsei University; Kim Joon-kyung, a professor at the Korea Development Institute’s School of Public Policy and Management; Robert Neff, a researcher on Korean history; Ahn Young-sop, a visiting professor at GSIS, Chung-Ang University; Timothy Dolan, a professor at the Catholic University of Korea; Bangladeshi Ambassador to Korea Shahidul Islam; and Peruvian Ambassador to Korea Marcela Lopez Bravo.