외교부

Congratulatory Remarks by H.E. Amb. Lee Taeho,

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea

on the occasion of opening the Sunnong Culture Forum’s

Lecture Series on Korea’s Economic Development

Seoul, September 9, 2019

Mr. Sung Kihak,
CEO of Youngone Corporation and President of the Sunnong Culture Forum,

Mr. Jin Nyum, Former Deputy Prime Minister, 

Ambassador Mohamed Salim Al-Harthy, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps,

Excellencies, and distinguished members of the Diplomatic Corps in Korea,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening.

It is my great pleasure to speak at this opening ceremony to mark the beginning of the lecture series on Korea’s economic development. A few months ago, Ambassador Cho Whanbok came to my office and introduced this lecture series. When he invited me to today’s opening ceremony, I had no hesitation in accepting the invitation. It was not only because the project was programmed by a senior colleague whom I respect but also because the objective of this program seemed very meaningful. 

In this regard, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to President Sung and the Sunnong Culture Forum as well as the SK Foundation, represented by Former Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon, for supporting Korea’s diplomacy by organizing this valuable program.  My ministry always hopes that the private sector will be more actively engaged in this kind of public activity.

My special thanks also go to the members of the Diplomatic Corps in Korea who are here today. Ambassador Al-Harthy, thank you for blessing this opening event with your presence. Thank you all to the diplomats from more than 50 countries, I guess, for your keen interest and commitment.  

For the next 12 weeks, the participants will be exposed to the experiences of Korean economic and social development in which I hope you will find sources of enhanced motivation and thoughtful insights.

The list of the lecturers is quite impressive. The lecturers are those who have actually been involved in policy making and implementation during the process of Korea’s economic development over the past several decades. With these eminent lecturers, I believe the series will provide an excellent overview of Korea’s economic development.

In particular, I feel privileged to listen to the keynote speech by Former Deputy Prime Minster Jin Nyum on this occasion. As you all know, he was one of the key policy makers who played an integral role in Korea’s development and prosperity and contributed to making the country what it is now.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I don’t think that this lecture series was designed because Korea’s development experience was a success case that is to be adopted automatically by other countries or imposed on them.  In fact, Korea’s development process, while we are proud of it, was far from perfect.  There was a lot of room to be desired during the process.  It is true that many of the challenges Korea faces today resulted, in part, from the rapid socio-economic development it went through.

Nonetheless, the reason why this lecture series could be useful is, in my view, that Korea’s experiences are relatively recent, fresh in memory, and thus, still relevant to others. Not even a generation has passed since the key figures of Korea’s economic development have retired. Perhaps, this is a notable difference as compared with the development history of other advanced countries.

From this lecture series, you will hear the vivid first-hand stories of Korea's development from these policy makers and practitioners.  I suspect that there are not many opportunities to look through Korea’s economic development so comprehensively within such a short period of time.

Since former Deputy Prime Minister Jin Nyum will deliver the keynote speech, I will not attempt to discuss the main drivers of Korea's economic and social development. Among them, some may say investment in education was the key. Some may point out hard-working and passionate people. And some others may highlight the strong commitment and good guidance of the government. Probably, they may be all correct.

I hope that by the time the participants reach the end of the series, they will find their own answer to the question.

In concluding my remarks, I would like to reiterate my sincere hope that all of you will reap a good harvest from this lecture series and share the lessons learned with many others back home. Thank you very much.  /End/