Kim Byunghwan Attends OECD Ministerial Council Meeting to Introduce Dynamic Economy

Chief Economist Reviews Trends in the Korean Economy

Kim Byunghwan, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, is speaking at the opening session of the OECD Council of Ministers.

Kim Byung-hwan, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, emphasized that private sector innovation, fair competition, and high social mobility are important in response to demographic changes such as low birth rates and aging population.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that Vice Minister Kim made these remarks while attending the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting held on the 2nd and 3rd.

In a session discussing ways to achieve a sustainable and inclusive economy and society, Vice Minister Kim introduced Korea's dynamic economic policy direction to overcome structural challenges and stressed the importance of private innovation, fair competition, and high social mobility for inclusive growth.

In the economic resilience session, he emphasized that in the face of increasing geopolitical uncertainties, building stable supply chains and restoring a free trade system are essential to enhance economic resilience. He proposed measures to stabilize supply chains through expanded private cooperation and diversification of international cooperation, while urging the OECD to take a more active role in analyzing and monitoring the spread of non-market policies.

Taking this meeting as an opportunity, Vice Minister Kim held talks with Claire Lombardelli, OECD Chief Economist, and Charlotte Vere, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the UK Treasury.

During the meeting with OECD Chief Economist Lombardelli and Deputy Director ?lvaro Pereira, who is scheduled to assume the position of Chief Economist in June, Vice Minister Kim explained that Korea's Q1 GDP growth rate recorded a high level driven by the private sector and balanced exports and domestic demand, and exchanged views on the OECD's growth forecast announced at the Ministerial Council Meeting.

With Under Secretary Vere, they discussed cooperation measures in economic and financial fields between the two countries and negotiations to improve the Korea-UK FTA. Vice Minister Kim and Under Secretary Vere agreed to closely cooperate in the preparation process, including agenda setting, to ensure constructive discussions covering key issues at the upcoming high-level economic and financial dialogue between the two countries' finance authorities scheduled for July.

Furthermore, Vice Minister Kim expressed hope that trade relations between the two countries will be further advanced and requested the UK side's special attention to achieving mutually beneficial results in the Korea-UK FTA improvement negotiations.