South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, the nation's first president with a business background, pledged to cut taxes and speed up deregulation to encourage investment and boost economic growth.
"Unnecessary regulations will be either cast away or reformed as early as possible," Lee said in his inauguration speech in Seoul yesterday. "We must lower taxes as well. Only then will we see investments and consumption increase once again."
After winning a landslide victory on Dec. 19, the former Seoul mayor, 66, has to live up to a campaign promise to increase South Korea's economic growth to 7 percent and double per capita income to US$40,000 by 2017.
PHOTO: AP
Lee is "obviously hoping that his can-do attitude, deregulation and other measures will bring in investment," said Kang Chul-kyu, an economics professor at University of Seoul, and a former chief of the Fair Trade Commission.
The new administration will "create an environment where entrepreneurs can invest freely, and our companies can roam the world market with much excitement," Lee said.
Lee, nicknamed the "Bulldozer" while running Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co, had previously announced a plan to make housing more affordable, his intention to shrink government by merging ministries and a program to improve the English- language skills of students.
The president is banking on non-government investment to fund housing loans and a 16 trillion won (US$16.8 billion) project to build a "Great Waterway," a network of canals through South Korea and branching up to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded 4.9 percent last year from a year earlier, and Lee is aiming for growth of about 6 percent this year, higher than forecasts by the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Korea.
The Great Waterway, which would begin with a 20km link between two rivers, will ultimately become a 2,100km waterway from Busan to Seoul. Lee says he would extend it another 1,000km north from the demilitarized zone if North Korea fulfills its pledge on dismantling nuclear weapons.
Lee's former firm is among those that have met to plan the project.
Lee and his Grand National Party also face the challenge of increasing trade with allies and neighbors. He will encourage the National Assembly to ratify a free-trade agreement with the US signed last June.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from