By Kang Hyun-kyung
President Lee Myung-bak Thursday urged the private sector to take on a role to fix a widening income gap between rich and poor families.
Speaking to the Global Korea 2012 seminar held in a Seoul hotel, Lee said the nation needs to abstain from unbridled jungle-like competition in the market and pursue shared growth.
“The gap between the rich and the poor has been growing and social indicators of the quality of life have shown downward trends since the 1990s. These changes are presenting new challenges,” he said.
He called on businesses to find their role to cope with the challenges.
“In order to build a truly harmonious and fair society, we need to move beyond the simplistic dichotomy of the government vs. the market to establish public-private partnership,” Lee said.
The President said capitalism is experiencing a crisis and its future is filled with uncertainty.
Under the topic “Shared Growth: Toward a New Model of Capitalism after the Crisis,” distinguished guests and experts from Europe, North America and Asia exchanged views about the crisis of capitalism and social policy.
Those joining the session included Wim Kok, former prime minister of the Netherlands; Chung Un-chan, former prime minister and chairman of the Commission on Shared Growth for Large and Small Companies; and Yonah Martin, the first Canadian of Korean origin appointed to the Senate.
The global event was hosted by the Presidential Council for Future and Vision (chairman: Kwak Seung-jun), in collaboration with the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences (chairman: Park Chin-keun).