8th Ministerial Meeting on the Economy

Deputy Prime Minister Oh-Seok Hyun hosted the 8th Ministerial Meeting on the Economy on June 5 and led discussions on ways to expand employer-sponsored childcare centers and measures to strengthen the management of government properties and to sell-off government properties unfit for preservation. Deputy Prime Minister also asked the related ministries to ensure that key policy bills are passed in the National Assembly as early as possible during its extraordinary session beginning this week.

The following is the summary of keynote speech given by Deputy Prime Minister Hyun at the meeting:

General Direction of Corporate Policy

Recently, there has been increasing criticism about unfair practices of conglomerates. While it should serve as an impetus for conglomerates to rectify their wrong-doings, it needs not be developed into anti-business sentiment that undermines corporate activities.

The government will uphold the market economy with three principles of ‘economic democratization’- i) supporting the economically vulnerable, ii) making phased implementation of policies which require national consensus, and iii) correcting ill-practices of conglomerates while supporting good deeds.

As businesses create added value and jobs, let alone goods and services, they are a pillar of our economic growth. With this in mind, the government will do its best to foster a business-friendly environment to ensure Korean businesses expand their global reach. Korean companies and the business community, on their part, should endeavor to strengthen global competitiveness with enhanced productivity generated through shared growth between large corporations and small and medium-sized businesses.

There is growing concerns that regulating the underground economy, preventing offshore tax evasion, and pursuing economic democratization will adversely affect the economy. The government’s efforts to regulate the underground economy and prevent offshore tax evasion are to ultimately achieve tax justice by ensuring everyone pay the taxes they are liable for. Meanwhile, the government is pursuing economic democratization to create a level-playing field where creative and hard-working people are given a fair chance and be rewarded for their efforts. All of these efforts aim to address bad practices, and are not intended to compromise business activities  

Rather than harboring anti-business sentiment, the public needs to cherish and support businesses as they are the driving force behind the Korean economy and they provide the foundation for our livelihood.

Expanding Employer-Sponsored Childcare Centers

The government has increased its investment in childcare with free childcare support and expansion of child support benefits to all classes, to name a few, to ensure work-life balance and alleviate the burden of parents.

Despite increased childcare benefit supports, however, there were not enough efforts to increase the number of employer-sponsored childcare centers where parents could bring their children without being worried about their children’s safety.

The government will ease regulations that hinder the establishment of employer-supported daycare centers and increase incentives for employers which set up and run daycare centers at workplaces.

The government will also strive to resolve the difficulties of companies that face shortage of space or operational funds for daycare centers and at the same time contribute to job creation by encouraging woman to join the workforce.

The government will discuss and finalize this agenda at today’s meeting and inform the public in details through a joint press briefing held by related ministries.

Strengthening Government Properties Management & Selling-Off Government Properties Unfit for Preservation

The government plans to i) sell off government properties that are unfit for preservation, ii) tighten its management of idle administrative properties, and iii) increase the utilization of government properties by the private sector to prevent unnecessary management cost and human resource spending associated with the possession of state-owned land that is unfit for preservation.

The government expects that improvement in the government property portfolio will lead to management cost savings and increased value of government properties.