President Lee Jae Myung delivers his New Year’s speech in Cheong Wa Dae in a recorded video released Thursday. (Lee Jae Myung’s official YouTube account) President Lee Jae Myung called for a profound shift in the national growth strategy in his New Year speech broadcast Thursday morning, highlighting Korea’s need to rethink the “success formula” that has driven the rapid industrial development of Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
Describing the nation’s past achievements as an outcome of “compressed development,” under which the nation’s wealth has been concentrated in select regions, companies and social classes, Lee said the success formula turned into a trap that hinders South Korea’s move forward.
“I will make sure that the fruits of growth are no longer monopolized by the select few, but shared by all,” Lee said in a prerecorded speech, adding tackling the problem is crucial for South Korea to make a “major takeoff.”
The concentration of wealth and society’s failure to provide equal opportunities have meant that what were once stepping stones for national growth are now serving as stumbling blocks, the president said.
“In this vicious cycle of inequality and disparity hampering growth and amplifying competition and conflict … we must completely change the paradigm of growth,” Lee said, calling for a “seismic shift to guide South Korea to the new future.”
In this photo released Thursday, President Lee Jae Myung delivers his New Year’s speech in Cheong Wa Dae. (Cheong Wa Dae) 
In this photo released Thursday, President Lee Jae Myung delivers his New Year’s speech in Cheong Wa Dae. (Cheong Wa Dae) In this vein, Lee, who was inaugurated in June, pledged to push ahead with plans to rebalance national growth. He also promised a shared growth of South Korea’s business community by increasing support for small and medium-sized enterprises and venture startups, in a country whose economic growth has long relied on a small number of family-run business conglomerates.
Workplace safety for workers was also one of the key goals suggested in Lee’s speech.
An inter-Korean thaw will also be a key pillar of South Korea’s profound shift toward stable growth, Lee said, as peace on the Korean Peninsula through the easing of tension would create the foundation for sustainable economic growth.
Lee said he would work with the international community, including the United States and China, to restore Seoul’s ties with Pyongyang.
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