Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Finance minister nominee vows aggressive push for market-driven reforms
Finance minister nominee Choi Sang-mok speaks before the press during a briefing at Korea Inclusive Finance Agency in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
By Yi Whan-woo
Finance minister nominee Choi Sang-mok vowed, Tuesday, to aggressively pursue market-driven reforms through innovation and deregulation, stressing the need for Korea to turn into a dynamic economy in the midst of an accelerated growth slowdown and persistently high inflation.
Speaking to reporters a day after his nomination, Choi said he believes the Yoon Suk Yeol administration has been heading in the right direction from the start in its bid for structural reforms to revitalize the economy.
“The goal of the Yoon administration’s economic policy is to create a dynamic recovery that can lead to a cycle of economic revitalization, innovation, and job creation in a sustainable manner,” Choi said during the press briefing at Korea Inclusive Finance Agency in Seoul.
“The government in that regard prioritizes innovation centering on the market,” he said, listing a range of reforms in regulations, science and technology, markets, education, and labor, among others.
Choi, formerly Yoon’s senior secretary for economic affairs, who will double as the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, acknowledged that the reform drive will take time.
Nevertheless, he evaluated that the Yoon administration is faring well, because “its start and direction concerning reforms were right.”
To accelerate reforms, Choi said rival parties “should step back from insisting on their vested interests” and make other relevant efforts for social consensus. Choi is required to undergo confirmation hearings at the National Assembly.
His comments came amid growing concerns that the government’s reform drive is losing momentum as it has tipped the balance of its policies toward countering economic headwinds and improving the public’s livelihood.
Under the administration of ousted President Park Geun-hye in the 2010s, Choi was the presidential secretary for economy and finance as well as well as first vice finance minister.
The career financial bureaucrat also said that Korea is experiencing a "last economic cold snap” and that it will eventually overcome the hurdles if the economy enters a full-fledged recovery path and inflation is stabilized.
He noted that inflation once surpassed 6 percent since Yoon took office in May of 2022, but softened to the 3 percent range.
According to Statistics Korea, Tuesday, consumer price growth slowed to 3.3 percent in November after accelerating for the three previous months – 3.4 percent in August, 3.7 percent in September and 3.8 percent in October.
The country’s economy has been sputtering in the post-pandemic era and is estimated to expand 1.4 percent this year. Korea's gross domestic product (GDP) correspondingly grew 0.6 percent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter of the year, after edging up 0.3 percent in the January-March period and expanding 0.6 percent in the April-June period.
Under the circumstances, Choi said Korea “has been showing signs of a gradual recovery,” pointing out that exports have bottomed out and displayed growth for the second consecutive month in November after a yearlong downturn.
He said the government will ensure households are not impacted too heavily by the gap between perceived inflation and actual headline inflation.