Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
KDI chief hints at resignation out of frustration with PM's remarks
Korea Development Institute (KDI) President Hong Jang-pyo speaks during a conference in December, 2019. Newsis
By Anna J. Park
By Anna J. Park
Korea Development Institute (KDI) President Hong Jang-pyo hinted at the possibility he might resign from the post, criticizing Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's recent comment that Hong, who designed the previous Moon administration's income-led growth economic plan, does not fit with the Yoon administration.
In a press release on Wednesday, the chief of the public research institute said there is no reason for him to stay in the post if the prime minister decides to close his ears to different opinions. “I was very disappointed by the prime minister's remarks that suggest his disapproval of any difference between the government and the state-run research institute,” Hong stated in the document.
“I have never heard anyone who says out loud that a state-run research agency should have the same opinion as the government,” Hong said, stressing that the KDI is not the think-tank of any particular administration.
“The prime minister's remarks are inappropriate in that they degrade the public research institute's neutrality as well as the purpose of the law (that guarantees it),” he went on, adding that he hopes the prime minister accepts different ideas and listens closely to researchers' diverse voices. Hong's three-year term is until May 30, 2024.
During a meeting with reporters late last month, Prime Minister Han said that the KDI chief's ideas on income-led growth are inconsistent with the Yoon administration.
KDI chief Hong served as the chief secretary of economic affairs during the Moon Jae-in presidency, and is known to be a key designer of the Moon administration's income-led growth economic development policies.