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Wed, May 31, 2023 | 09:45
Editorial
Next IMF leader
Posted : 2011-04-21 16:52
Updated : 2011-04-21 16:52
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Korean qualified to head the organization

Will a Korean be able to lead the IMF? The speculation is gaining currency as Dominique Strauss Khan is likely to quit the post to run in the French presidential election next year. Now the time has come for the IMF to scrap its decades-old practice of picking its leader only from Europeans.

Former Finance Minister SaKong Il can be a qualified candidate for the top post. He is capable of playing a bridging role between developed and developing countries. He was the chief architect behind Seoul's successful hosting of the G20 Summit last November, and ran the finance ministry in Korea's super-growth era around the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

SaKong has an extensive network with world leaders, especially finance ministers and central-bank governors, and has shown he can run a large bureaucracy. The U.S.-trained economist also knows both the strengths and weaknesses of free-market and government-guided capitalism.

His selection would have a symbolic message. He comes from a country which the IMF dubs as one of its model students. Korea has emerged from being one of the world's poorest countries to the world's 14th largest economy.

Under pressure from emerging member countries, the IMF has been implementing a series of reforms, including the allocation of two executive board seats to non-Europeans and a bigger quota to emerging economies including China.

The IMF has been under fire for a lack of credibility, transparency, legitimacy, alternative capitalism, governance structure, geographical representation, new agenda and harmony.

SaKong may feel embarrassment if he is approached for the post because of his nationality.

He has a few barriers to running the Bretton Woods institution, and must get endorsement from the United States and the EU. Another hurdle is UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Other countries could believe that it is not desirable for Koreans to head both the UN and the IMF.

Picking a European as IMF head may be discomforting with the bloc in a deep economic malaise. Will member countries be willing to accept IMF policy recommendations from a European leader when the European economy itself is in trouble?

The United States and Europe desperately need the support of cash-rich China to power the global economy. Beijing may be more sympathetic to a non-European IMF leader than to a European head. It may also know that it has limits in installing a Chinese IMF leader. Its alternative might be an East Asian like SaKong who can better represent the views of the emerging member countries. Unlike former British Premier Gordon Brown, SaKong may enjoy a bipartisan support in Korea for his candidacy.

Europeans may have little to worry over a new IMF head from an emerging country as they monopolize the executive board. Checks and balances between a professional CEO and major shareholders would make the organization more credible and less anachronistic than before.

But picking an IMF leader is not a World Cup match. Regardless of nationality, the IMF badly needs a leader capable of setting an agenda for its renaissance, and global economic prosperity.




차기 IMF 총재

한국인은 IMF를 이끌 자격이 있다


한국인이 IMF를 이끌 수 있을 것인가? 이러한 추측은 도미니크 스트로스 칸이 내년도 프랑스 대선에 출마하기 위해 총재직에서 물러날 가능성이 제기되면서 퍼지기 시작한다. 이제 IMF는 총재를 선출하는데 있어서 유럽인만 가능하다는 수십 년간 계속되어온 관례를 제거할 때가 되었다.

사공일 전 재무부장관은 이 총재직에 적격한 후보자가 될 수 있다. 그는 선진국과 개발도상국 사이에 교량 역할을 할 능력이 있다. 그는 지난 해 11월 서울에서 열린 G20 정상회담의 성공적인 주최를 지휘한 주요 설계자였다. 그는 1988년 서울 올림픽 당시 한국이 가장 성장하는 시대에 재무부를 관장했다.

사 전 장관은 세계 지도자들과의 폭넓은 네트워크를 맺고 있는데, 특히 재무장관들과 중앙은행장들도 포함되어 있다. 그는 보다 큰 관료체제를 관장할 수 있다. 미국에서 수련한 이 경제학자는 또 자유시장 자본주의와 정부주도 자본주의의 장단점을 모두 알고 있다.

그가 선출되면 상징적인 메시지를 갖게 될 것이다. 그는 IMF가 모범 국가들 중 하나로 여겼던 한국 출신이다. 한국은 세계 최빈국에서 세계 14위 경제대국으로 부상했다.

신흥 회원국들의 압력 하에서 IMF는 두 명의 비유럽 출신 이사회 임원을 할당하고 중국을 포함한 신흥 경제국에 쿼터를 보다 늘리는 등 일련의 개혁을 단행했다.

IMF는 신용, 투명성, 합법성, 대안 자본주의, 지배 구조, 지리적 표상, 그리고 새로운 아젠다 및 조화 부재로 비난을 받아왔다.

사공은 만약 그가 국적 때문에 총재직에 선출된다면 당황스러울 수 있다. 그는 장점에 입각해 엄정한 심사를 받아야 한다.

그가 이 브레튼 우즈 체제의 기관을 관장하는 데에는 약간의 장애 요소가 있다. 그는 미국과 EU의 승인을 받아야만 한다. 또 하나의 어려움은 반기문 UN사무총장이다. 다른 회원국들은 한국인이 UN과 IMF 둘 다 이끄는 것은 바람직하지 않다고 생각할 것이다.

그러나 EU가 심각한 경제적 무기력에 처해 있어 유럽인을 IMF의 지도자로 선출한다면 불안감을 낳을 수 있다. 회원국들은 유럽 경제 자체가 어려움에 처해 있을 때 유럽인 수장이 제안하는 IMF 정책을 기꺼이 수용할 것인가?

미국과 유럽은 세계 경제를 작동시키는데 보유 자금이 풍부한 중국의 지지가 절대적으로 필요하다. 중국은 유럽 출신 지도자보다 비유럽 출신 IMF 지도자에 보다 동조적일 수 있다. 중국은 또 중국인을 IMF 총재로 선출하는데 제약이 따른다는 것을 알고 있을 것이다. 이 대안으로 신흥 회원국의 관점을 보다 잘 대변할 수 있는 사공과 같은 동아시아인이 될 수 있다. 고든 브라운 전 영국 총리와 달리 사공은 자신의 후보자격을 위해 한국에서 양쪽의 지지를 얻을 수 있다.

유럽인들은 자신들이 IMF 집행위원회를 독점하기 때문에 신흥국에서 선출된 신임 IMF 총재에 대한 우려가 거의 없을 것이다. 전문경영자와 대주주들 간의 견제와 균형은 IMF를 전보다 신뢰받고 시대에 걸맞도록 할 것이다.

그러나 IMF 총재 선출은 월드컵 경기가 아니다. 국적을 막론하고 IMF는 르네상스와 세계경제 번영을 위한 안건을 정할 수 있는 지도자가 절실히 필요하다.

 
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