'Man of Roh Moo-hyun' publishes memoir recounting pivotal economic policies that shaped today's Korea

Former presidential policy chief Byeon Yang-kyoon's latest book "Picturing the Future Beyond the Camp" (literal translation from Korean to English / Courtesy of Bookie Publishing

Former presidential policy chief Byeon Yang-kyoon, 74, who earned the trust of the late President Roh Moo-hyun, to the extent that he was called "the man of Roh," has recently published his memoir.

Under the Roh Moo-hyun administration, Byeon served as vice minister of planning and budgets in 2003, minister of planning and budget in 2005 ― the Ministry of Planning and Budget has since been integrated into the current Ministry of Economy and Finance ― and was the senior policy chief at the presidential secretariat in 2006.

Published 17 years after Byeon's official retirement from public service, the book, titled "Picturing the Future Beyond the Camp" (literal translation from Korean to English), is more than a personal memoir.

His book carries heavy historical value, as it recounts previously unrevealed background information of the major economic policies of successive administrations spanning the 1970s to early 2000s that not only formulated a significant period of Korea's rapid economic growth and transition, but also continue to shape today's economic and social realities.

In detail, some of the key policies that played a pivotal role in shaping Korean society from the Park Chung-hee government to the Roh Moo-hyun government are introduced in the book. Byeon describes how such efforts to implement policies were met with intense social conflict and opposition.

The book takes us behind the failed attempt regrading a second land reform during the late 1970s under the Park Chung-hee administration, the launch of the real-name financial system in 1993 under the Kim Young-sam administration, as well as the Roh Moo-hyun administration's relocation of the administrative capital to Sejong City, the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the construction of a naval base on Jeju Island during the mid 2010s.

President Yoon Suk Yeol appoints Byeon Yang-kyoon, right, as an economic adviser at the presidential office in Seoul, July 15, 2022. Newsis

Through the book, the former senior presidential secretary of economic affairs highlights his belief that economic policies need to transcend ideological divisions.

"From my 20s through to my 50s, what I primarily did was devising economic policies. Economic policies should not be swayed by the ideology or biases of a certain group. This means that economic policies should not be formulated based on the logic of a specific camp. I wanted to say that we should aim for the interests of the entire country over the long-term rather than the short term," he said.

Born in 1949, Byeon began working as a public official after passing the high civil service examination in 1973. After he retired from public service, he went into the private equity sector. He served as the head of Smilegate Investment from 2015 to 2021. Since 2022, he has been an economic adviser to President Yoon Suk Yeol.