Economic Development Five-Year Plan Turns 60... Choo Kyung-ho: "National Income Increased 400 Times"

60th Anniversary of the Five-Year Economic Development Plan
Deputy Prime Minister Chu: "Korea Has Become an Economic Development Leader"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho. Photo by Dongjoo Yoon doso7@

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho emphasized on the 25th, marking the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Five-Year Economic Development Plan, that "the per capita national income has increased by about 400 times over 60 years."

On this day, Deputy Prime Minister Choo attended the 60th anniversary event of the Five-Year Economic Development Plan held at the Fairmont Hotel in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, under the theme "Today and Tomorrow of the Korean Economy," and made this statement. In his opening remarks, Choo first mentioned the numbers '61, 82, 33,300, 400.' He explained, "61 refers to 1961, 82 is the per capita national income of Korea at that time, which was 82 dollars, and 33,000 is last year's per capita national income figure."

He continued, "About 60 years ago, during the period of absolute poverty known as the 'boreutgogae' (grain shortage), our government's goal was to live well too," adding, "Through seven rounds of economic development plans, we laid out a blueprint for national development and continuously strived to secure global competitiveness by focusing on overseas markets as the main stage."

Deputy Prime Minister Choo also stated, "We have not kept the history and confidence of Korea's economic development as our sole asset but shared it with developing countries, becoming a leader in economic development that truly cooperates with the international community," and mentioned, "Going forward, the government will expand the scale of official development assistance to rank within the world's top 10."

Regarding the current state of the Korean economy, he said, "Due to long-accumulated structural problems across the economy and society, such as regulations, labor, and education that are out of sync with global standards, and population decline caused by the world's lowest birthrate, growth potential is rapidly declining," adding, "The government is firmly maintaining a price stabilization stance while managing the macroeconomy stably through consistent and predictable policies, and is striving to stabilize the livelihood economy and restore economic vitality."

Deputy Prime Minister Choo emphasized, "We cannot neglect structural reform tasks to improve our economy's productivity and fundamentally enhance its structure," and said, "We will consistently and intensively pursue establishing the rule of law in labor relations, enhancing labor market flexibility, education reform for nurturing creative talents, and pension reform to secure sustainability without passing burdens onto future generations."