By Na Jeong-ju, Michael Ha
Staff Reporters
President Lee Myung-bak reaffirmed Thursday his pledge to strengthen the rule of law and set up a more foreigner-friendly business environment, saying such efforts will help the country achieve stronger economic development.
As part of this, the administration will work on setting up ``peaceful protest'' zones and crack down on what officials see as illegal rallies and strikes.
Lee also suggested a crackdown on illegal migrant workers, saying Korea has failed to pay enough attention to the issue even though the number of those staying here illegally has jumped to 230,000.
``South Korea should be a country where laws are observed strictly and violators are brought to justice no matter who they are,'' Lee said while presiding over a meeting of the Presidential Council on National Competitiveness. ``Korea should establish the rule of law to become an advanced country. It is also crucial to attract long-term foreign investment and attain higher economic growth.''
Sakong Il, chairman of the presidential panel, said that strengthening the rule of law in the country will mean much more than just prosecuting those who transgress the law. Rather, he said, ``We see this effort as a fundamental step in helping to attract long-term foreign investments, create new jobs in the country and raise our overall national competitiveness in the world.''
With that in mind, the administration is striving to develop and adopt a comprehensive measure to tackle this issue, said Sakong, who also serves as senior economic advisor to President Lee.
The administration said it would prosecute illegal protesters in the future and also seek monetary compensation from them through the civil court system.
The government also plans to expand the scope of the libel law so that libelous comments posted on the Internet can be subject to rigorous prosecution, officials said.
Officials will also devote more resources to the government's cyber-crime investigation units, they said.
During the meeting, the President said foreigners mostly invest in short-term commodities, such as stocks and bonds, rather than sustainable business projects. Because of this, the country suffers a massive outflow of foreign funds for a short period of time whenever there is a global problem, he said.
``We should create a social and legal atmosphere where foreign firms actively participate in long-term projects here,'' Lee said.
The panel forecasted foreign direct investment (FDI) will increase by $480 million per year and the gross domestic product will rise by eight trillion won if South Korea becomes an average member country of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in terms of law enforcement.
Lee vowed to get tough with illegal strikes and street demonstrations.
``Illegal rallies and strikes have caused serious damage to the country's international image and foreign investment here. All collective actions should be done in accordance with the law,'' he said.
According to the presidential panel, Korea experiences an extraordinarily large number of outdoor rallies compared with advanced countries. As of 2007, Seoul registered 736 outdoor rallies per one million people, compared with 207 in Washington, 186 in Paris and 59 in Tokyo, it said.