By Yi Whan-woo
President Park Geun-hye said Monday she will concentrate on revitalizing the economy, adding she regretted being slow to implement economic policies.
“The past two years has been the time to make a frame to innovate the nation and its economy,” Park said at a weekly meeting with senior presidential secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae. She pointed out that this year was the third year of her five-year presidency.
“We now should put our utmost efforts to boost the economy based on our three-year plan for economic innovation,” she said.
Introduced in February 2014, the three-year plan set a bold target of $30,000 per capita gross domestic product, a 70 percent employment rate and a 4 percent potential growth rate.
The President said the government would ensure that people feel “the warmth of economic recovery.”
But Park stressed the government’s measures needed to be implemented on time to fulfill her goals effectively.
In particular, she pointed out that the National Assembly passed real estate reform bills on Dec. 29 after they had been pending for months.
The rival political parties had been at odds over the effectiveness of the bills, which aimed to help revitalize the real estate market.
“I’d compare those bills to noodles that were served late and lost their original tastiness,” the President said.
She said real estate activity had increased since the bills were passed.
“And there could have been more real estate deals if the National Assembly had passed the bills quickly.”