By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
The South Korean economy faces a gloomy forecast for the rest of 2008, with companies and domestic consumers hurt by rising energy costs, a worldwide economic slowdown and mounting inflationary pressure.
This week, the Strategy and Finance Ministry indicated it plans to lower the country's economic growth projection to the mid-4 percent range. The International Monetary Fund offered an even lower forecast. The IMF said Wednesday the South Korean economy would grow 4.1 percent in 2008, with the expansion rate falling further in the second half of the year.
So which Korean leader, past and present, would be best suited to tackle Korea's current economic troubles? A new survey by online education firm EduWill posed that question to nearly 2000 student members this month.
The top choice? The late Park Chung-hee, who was the South Korean President from 1961 until his assassination in 1979. More than a quarter of the respondents said he would have been best qualified to lead Korea out of its current economic doldrums.
The late Park Chung-hee is often credited with fostering Korea's rapid industrialization by export-led economic growth. But he was also criticized for his authoritarian rule and for clamping down on political opposition and personal freedoms under the provisions of a state of emergency. His daughter Park Geun-hye is former chairperson of the conservative Grand National Party and a main political rival of President Lee Myung-bak.
The second-most popular choice was King Jungjo, Korea's 22nd king of the Joseon Dynasty, who is credited with implementing a wide range of successful economic and political reforms in the country at the time. Rounding out the top three was Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty.