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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Further weakening of reserve currency

By Oscar Ugarteche The previously existing world power structure is all but over. The world resulting from the Pax Americana of 1944 and expressed in the G7 group of countries now has to confront the fact that it no longer controls most of the world’s GDP and that by 2016 it will be in a minority position in terms of total GDP. This means that Europe as a whole will have to redefine its global role and the United States will no longer be able to act unilaterally on economic fronts. Asia has a new role to play in helping to ensure international economic and financial stability in face of mature economies that need to devalue their currencies in order to import less and export more. The beggar-thy neighbor-policy again being deployed these days was what led the 1930s crisis into a depression with deflation. Both then and now it was meant to try and keep weakening economic powers on top of their economic game. That failed and ended in the creation of the economic stabilization fund sponsored by the Roosevelt government and designed by Harry White, later creator of the Int

Nov 11, 2010

Fairness, balance, and common good

By Kofi A. Annan Ahead of today’s G20 summit in South Korea, two issues stand out for those of us who take an interest in international development. First, the concepts of fairness, balance, and the common good have experienced a welcome renaissance as world leaders have had to remind each other of these universal principles to avoid a potentially devastating escalation of their disagreements on currency values and trade imbalances. Second, while it remains to be seen to what extent it will help to bring countries’ contending economic strategies into line, this rediscovery of basic values comes just as the G20 is beginning to include international development issues in its deliberations. Naturally, it is my profound hope that the principles of fairness, balance and the common good which have become so popular with G20 leaders lately will also inform these discussions ― and not only those on issues like undervalued currencies, lopsided trade statistics or skewed consumption patterns however important they may be. Unfortunately, the signs are decidedly mixed. On th

Nov 11, 2010

Development agenda to enhance G20’s legitimacy

Seoul provides alternative to one-size-fits-all formula By Ahn Choong –yong It is historic that Korea, the first non-Western and non-G8 country, chairs the fifth G20 leaders meeting in Seoul this week. Once among the poorest economies, Korea now takes center stage at one of the world’s premier forums and can contribute to the inception of a post-crisis global architecture through the development agenda. The formal inclusion of a Korea initiative on development as a focus of the Seoul G20 agenda is aimed at bridging the 172 non-G20 countries and G20 members. The collective effort of the G20 since the eruption of the unprecedented financial crisis has proved effective in bringing about a quick recovery, albeit with varying degrees of success in individual countries, making it the premier forum to redesign the post-crisis global economic architecture. However, questions about the legitimacy of the G20 process have naturally been raised because it is a self-selected grouping. But legitimacy even for an informal group like the G20 depends on its ability to deliver on t

Nov 11, 2010

G20 summit tests Lees global leadership

By Na Jeong-ju President Lee Myung-bak once said he feels a sense of “historic” responsibility to help the world find the most effective solutions to overcome the current economic challenges at the G20 Seoul Summit. Two big issues have been placed high on the agenda at the ongoing forum ― closing the growth gap between advanced and developing economies and finding workable solutions to the global currency dispute. To make the discussions successful, Lee must make his last-ditch efforts as chair of the summit to address differences of views among members on how to attain these goals. The G20 meeting will help boost Korea’s global reputation. And it is also a crucial opportunity for the South Korean leader to become one of the prominent world leaders, analysts say. Even last year, pessimism prevailed on the possibility of an economic slump that would push the world into another Great Depression. Fortunately, the actual outcome has been better than those worst-case scenarios. Ironically, the better-than-expected recovery of the world economy could present greater chal

Nov 11, 2010

Korea set to usher new perspectives to G20

By Lee tae-hoon Development issues and the establishment of a global financial safety net, known as the “Korea Initiative,” will appear for the first time as main agenda items for the premium forum for global economic cooperation. “Let me confess, when Korea was decided as a G20 host country in Pittsburgh, there was strong reluctance to introduce new issues,” said Ahn Ho-young, deputy trade minister, in a press briefing at the Coex media center, southern Seoul. Ahn said President Lee Myung-bak also wanted to focus on the implementation of commitments made in the past four G20 summits in hopes of not making a common mistake that large international institutions often commit ― making a host of promises and failing to honor them. But Lee will introduce two new initiatives, in which Korea has a comparative advantage, to the summit. Ahn said that the existence of the G20 as the premium forum for international economic cooperation may be threatened if it does not pay attention to voices of non-G20 nations and fails to meet growing challenges to maintain the momentum and

Nov 11, 2010

Some hiccups occur in G20 Business Summit

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia As the world’s most powerful leaders and influential businessmen gather in Seoul, it seems that government organizers went into overdrive with its security preparations. In the case of the G20 Business Summit, it seems that not enough importance was placed on the actual substance of the event. Around 120 business leaders from all over the world gathered at the Sheraton Walkerhill Hotel for the Seoul G20 Business Summit, Thursday. Access to the hotel premises was severely limited, and even journalists were not allowed inside the lobby or to go near the conference halls. X-ray machines and metal detectors could be found at the main entrance and all access points. Extra tight security meant that journalists had no access to the CEOs or to the event itself. Most of the journalists were confined to the media center, and were expected to cover the event by watching the live streaming video on the official website. Initially, there was a major problem with the streaming video because it did not provide any translation. Foreign journalists complaine

Nov 11, 2010

G20 to divide banks into 5-6 baskets for supervision

By Cho Jin-seo The G20 will categorize the world’s banks into five to six “baskets” to put them under different levels of capital and liquidity regulations, Korea’s chief financial regulator said Thursday. Financial regulators have agreed on how to define and regulate “too-big-to-fail” banks, and the G20 will announce the results today as part of the communique of the Seoul Summit, said Chin Dong-soo, chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission. “The banks are now categorized into four to six wide baskets. More specific selection will be made by the BCBS next year,” Chin told reporters. The BCBS is a meeting of central bank governors. The announcement will be made by Mario Draghi, Italy’s central bank governor, today. A Korean official said that the names of the banks in each basket are not likely be announced tomorrow, as they will subject to careful scrutiny. The issue of how to regulate systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs) has been one of key issues of the post-crisis financial reform. Another official at the Seoul G20 preparation comm

Nov 11, 2010

Korea pursues win-win strategy with the world

By Cho Hwan-eik It is often brought to my attention that the value of Korea's national brand has improved significantly after the country was chosen to chair the upcoming G20 summit. I think this is a positive result since Korea is expected to play a leadership role in coordinating the different opinions and resolving conflicts among the world's most influential nations. The reasons behind Korea's improved stature in the world can be attributed to its diplomatic efforts but it is also important to consider that the improved reputation of Korean-made products in the global market have also greatly contributed in lifting the international perception of Korea. Nowadays, it is not so difficult to spot "fans of Korea" in overseas markets. And increasingly, many big buyers are visiting Korea calling themselves big fans of Korea. For instance, a growing number of prominent auto manufacturers in the world are using Korean auto parts in their vehicles, and I expect that all top 10 global auto manufacturers will open their doors to Korean auto parts eventually by next year. T

Nov 11, 2010

Global Best Brands in Korea (5)

The Korea Times has picked a total of 21 of the best global brands doing business here, which were highlighted in the previous four special editions of the 60th anniversary of the country’s leading English-language daily, which fell on Nov. 1. The brands were picked based on surveys of experts to cover almost all industries with the exceptions of the banking and credit card businesses, which were excluded due to technical reasons. Many prominent insurers, drug makers, automakers, tobacco companies, accounting firms and high-tech companies made it onto the list. Included in the exclusive list are two accounting firms, Deloitte Anjin and Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers; three tobacco makers, British American Tobacco Korea, JT International Korea and Philip Morris International Korea; two pharmaceutical outfits, Boehringer Ingelheim Korea and Merck Korea; four automakers, BMW Korea, Jaguar Landrover Korea, Mercedes Benz Korea and Renault Samsung Motors; five insurers, AIG Korea, Allianz Life Korea, ING Korea, MetLife Korea, PCA Life Korea; four high-tech corporations, eBay, L

Nov 11, 2010

G20 Summit begins amid deep division

Leaders may seek compromise on currencies By Kim Jae-kyoung, Kim Tong-hyung Leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) member nations are expected to reach a compromise today on trade and currency issues that have so far marred the cooperative spirit of the global gathering, in a bid to make headway in the G20 process and keep the two-year-old global policy forum afloat. The G20 Summit began Thursday amid deep divisions among member economies, with currency tensions simmering as world leaders gathered in Seoul for the two-day summit. They started the summit with a two-hour working dinner at 7:00 p.m. at the National Museum of Korea following President Lee Myung-bak’s welcoming remarks, with the focus on the global economic framework. U.S. President Barack Obama was late for the dinner. The Seoul Declaration to be signed Friday by the heads of 19 states and the EU may include a couple of sensible measures to prevent currency feuds, a “standstill declaration” to avoid protectionism, and the Korea Initiative, which addresses a global financial safety net and development issues.

Nov 11, 2010By Kim Jae-kyoung
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