SEOUL, December 29 (AJP) -Lee Hye-hoon, a former three-term opposition lawmaker and economist tapped as the inaugural Minister of Planning and Budget, on Monday described the South Korean economy under a near-term "perfect storm", requiring a fundamental rethink of government spending priorities are set.
“We need an approach that finds and eliminates unnecessary spending, while investing boldly in people’s livelihoods and growth,” Lee said as she reported for work at her temporary office at the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. in Seoul, a day after her nomination.
Observing the economy in "structural and complex" crisis, she named structural challenges: a population crisis, climate change, deepening polarization, sweeping industrial and technological disruption, and the decline of regional communities.
She described the situation not as an unforeseen “black swan,” but as a “gray rhino” — a widely recognized and repeatedly warned-of risk that has long been ignored until becoming dangerous.
“The challenges we face today were visible for a long time,” she said. “What we are dealing with now is the result of failing to respond early enough.”
Lee said the newly created Ministry of Planning and Budget was established to move beyond short-term, reactive policymaking and instead serve as a “strategic planning control tower” for the country’s future.
She stressed the need to more tightly link planning and budgeting, rather than allocating funds on a case-by-case basis. “I will ensure that taxpayers’ money becomes investment for the future, and that this investment in turn improves people’s lives,” she said. “That is how we create a virtuous strategic cycle.”
Lee, a long-time critic of cash-driven fiscal expansion pursued by liberal governments, stopped short of commenting on Lee Jae Myung administration's expansionary fiscal stance, saying she would speak on the matter separately.
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