Closing Wealth Gap

Pres. Roh calls on CEOs to help in closing gap between rich and poor
President Roh Moo-hyun, in his address at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry on March 28, called for the support from the business community to close the wealth gap in the country. In a special session with business CEOs across the country including heads of member firms of the four business organizations including the Korea International Trade Association(KITA), and the Federation of Korean Industries(FKI), and the Korean Employer's Association(KEA) and KCCI, President Roh said he came to make speech to the CEOs to exchange opinions with them to bring down the barriers between the business community and the government.
He said he is confident that the economy is on its way to recovery. Barring any big mistakes, the economy would not have to grapple with such catastrophic problems as the financial crisis the country faced in 1998 in the near future. Over the past three years, the government had not employed drastic measures to recover the economic slump, thanks to the people's perseverance, but deployed all kinds of measures at hand, being careful not to hurt the economy.
He recalled that he got a strong demand that he should follow the market economy when he was first elected and he tried very hard to live up to the demand, although he is not sure how the people would evaluate his effort. On the other hand, politics is important too, because democracy is developed in the political arena, which is very important to the economic environment. In this connection, it may be related to the market, but speaking from the view points of the relationship between the government and the people, and the relationship between the politics and the people, we can presume that there have been some improvement in the position of the people as far as their livelihood is concerned.
The president asked the CEOs at the gathering that if the collusion between the business and political circles has been solved, and if transparency has been raised, saying that the situations are still inconvenient, although there are some good points.

He said, "We have to continue with the policies to meet the targets and we have to do our best and achieve an advanced economy and society step-by-step, which is being done."He said he doesn't have to point out the fact because it is the natural trend that comes with the progress of the age and not bucking the trend is part of the crucial character for a leader. So he said he would like to have every one to remember that he was a president who did not buck the trend to be a good chief executive.
On the North Korean issue, the President said he was opposed to the U.S, strategy to attack the North if needed when he became president. The North Korean nuclear standoff developed as he was elected to the nation's highest office in 2002. He said he was opposed to an armed attack on the North to let foreign investors and the people know that the country would continue to be stable. He said opposing the U.S. policy was difficult at that time in Korea, but he had to do it for the sake of the economy.
There were people who thought the President damaged the Korea-U.S. relations as the security problems took a better turn. Some even said that he is anti-U.S. and pro-North Korea, in fact a leftist. But truth is he is not, he said.
He though all along that the Korea-U.S. relations should always be satisfactory and smooth for the sake of Korea's security and the rights to voice its opinions abroad. The Korea-U.S. ties have not grown worse than before, although on many issues, Korea has some problems with the U.S., he admitted.
But he said those little problems would not the overall relations with the U.S. "They would not get out of hand,"he asserted.
In 1997, the financial crisis developed due to a heavy corporate investment, which led to bankruptcy to many business firms and the collapse of the financial system. The financial crisis in 2003 occurred due to burdensome household finance, which threatened the financial system with a serious crisis. nw

President Roh Moo-hyun at a meeting of the KCCI March 28 in Seoul.

President Roh with KCCI Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik.