Park Eung-kyuk, standing, president of the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), speaks on Korea’s developmental experience to an international seminar held in Minsk, the capital of Belarus Thursday. “Korea: From Rags to Riches,” a book published by the KIPA, was adopted as a textbook for public administration researchers in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) bloc. / Courtesy of KIPA

By Chung Dahae

MINSK, Belarus — The Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA) and its CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) counterparts Thursday agreed to step up cooperative ties to enhance research in public administration based on developmental experiences and expertise.

The agreement was reached in a meeting between Park Eung-kyuk, president of the KIPA, and researchers of the CIS public administration academies at the office of the Academy of Public Administration under the Aegies of the President of the Republic of Belarus here.

Especially, delegates from Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Russia particularly called for activation of personnel and information exchange programs in public administration.

They expressed deep interest in the KIPA-published book “Korea: From Rags to Riches” which was especially translated into Russian for countries in the CIS bloc.

Published in 2010, the book presents 60 different cases through which Korea could ascend from rags to riches. It was part of the paper’s 60th anniversary project.

They said that their institutions would use the book as a textbook for learning developmental knowhow from Korea. The CIS is a regional community bloc comprising republics formed during the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

Taking the podium as the first guest during a plenary session of an international seminar titled “State Regulation of the Economy and Enterprises Efficiency Enhancement,” organized by the Academy of Public Administration, the KIPA head termed Korea as an exemplary nation that has successfully utilized public administration as a primary vehicle to lead national development through prompt coordination of conflicts among all interest groups, especially non-public institutions.

The seminar was attended by delegates from Korea, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Austria and Bulgaria.

Referring to public administration as a primary pathfinder in rapid industrialization of Korea in the midst of abject poverty and scarcity, Park said, “Public administration provided a basis for Korean people to work relentlessly by following an ethic of the can-do spirit in the early days of nation building.”

The professor-turned-administrator said that Korea took a series of bold steps in the early days of nation building to activate the free market capitalism, seen as a root to ensure today’s economic prosperity and dynamic democratization.

Chung Dahae is a researcher of the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA).