Park Hong-keun, the Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, stated on September 18 that the direction for establishing a national development strategy should focus on enhancing growth potential and ensuring that the benefits of economic growth are distributed across generations, regions, and social classes. He emphasized the need to provide hope for citizens to lead basic lives and to have opportunities for recovery even after failures.
On this day, Minister Park co-chaired the fourth plenary meeting with Kwon Oh-hyun, chair of the Long-term Strategy Committee, at the Korea Press Center. They discussed the progress of the committee's policy initiatives and the public feedback process for the '2045 National Development Strategy' along with future plans.
Minister Park assessed that South Korea is at a pivotal moment of historical change, such as the AI transformation, which will significantly influence the next 20 to 30 years.
He noted that while the uncertainties in the economy and society make it difficult to predict what 2045 will look like, it is more important to contemplate what kind of nation to build rather than focusing solely on the precision of predictions. He stressed the need to foster a collective willingness to participate in creating the desired nation.
Regarding the national development strategy that the government aims to announce by the end of the year, he insisted that it should not merely be a report. It must elevate public expectations and be a strategy that can be effectively implemented.
To achieve this, he proposed enhancing growth potential, spreading the benefits of growth, and striving to become a global leader. He also stated that the strategy formulation process would adequately incorporate the opinions of experts, including those from the Long-term Strategy Committee.
The committee discussed the current status and future plans for seven policy initiatives it has selected. It proposed a policy framework aimed at establishing 'hope, welfare, and a leading nation' as future goals, focusing on strengthening national resilience through responses to complex crises and creating new growth engines. Strategies to support this include institutional innovation, talent development, and national investment innovation.
Chair Kwon explained that they are discussing factors that hinder the achievement of economic and social goals and the necessary foundations, and that they will continue to coordinate specific policy directions with experts, including institutional improvements.
The committee is conducting research with the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Technology to detail the implementation tasks and action plans. The government plans to incorporate necessary elements from the research into the 2045 National Development Strategy.
The Office for Government Policy Coordination is also conducting in-depth interviews to understand the difficulties and expectations of young people regarding the future. They plan to carry out street interviews with young people and foreigners from various regions and continue to gather opinions through expert consultations and meetings.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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