Conservative economist calls for a “Miracle on the Daedong River”

Posted on : 2015-03-12 17:00 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Professor argues for an economic development method that would allow the North’s leaders to keep firm grip on power
 a professor at Yeungnam University’s Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul
a professor at Yeungnam University’s Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul

A conservative economist is raising eyebrows with his calls to recognize the North Korean regime and transplant the “development dictatorship” ideas of Park Chung-hee there to achieve a “Miracle on the Daedong River.” The Daedong passes through Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital city, similar to how the Han passes through Seoul.

The message from Jwa Sung-hee, a professor at Yeungnam University’s Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul, stands in sharp contrast with those of other South Korean right-wing conservatives stressing the eventual collapse of the Pyongyang regime.

Jwa’s message comes as part of a presentation delivered at a debate titled “A New Paradigm for a Unified Korea: From the ‘Miracle on the Han’ to the ‘Miracle on the Daedong.’” The event, organized by the National Unification Advisory Council (NUAC), is taking place on the afternoon of Mar. 12 at the Korea Press Center in Seoul.

Jwa, a former director of the Federation of Korean Industries-affiliated Korea Economic Research Institute, has consistently advocated right-wing free market principles, including the abolition of state regulations on corporations.

A copy of Jwa’s presentation acquired in advance by the Hankyoreh on Mar. 11 notes that “many of the South’s proposed frameworks for helping North Korea, such as the Sunshine Policy and [former president Lee Myung-bak’s] Vision 3000, have failed to elicit cooperation from North Korea.”

Jwa attributed the problem to the policies “focusing on encouraging change in North Korea’s political and economic systems, which ultimately means forcing out North Korea’s ruling class.”

“North Korean authorities have been unable to accept anti-North proposals presuming a democratic, market economy system that would inevitably mean the ouster of the current rulers,” he explained.

As an alternative, Jwa suggested devising “ideas for cooperation that would be a win-win situation for the North Korean public, South Korea, and North Korea’s rulers.”

More specifically, he suggested that Pyongyang’s model should be “the economic development strategy adopted by South Korea and China in the past, with a controlled, government-led market economy under a non-democratic political regime.”

With a development dictatorship system, North Korea’s rulers would “be able to hold on to power in the long term while working to prosper alongside the public as agents of economic reform rather than targets for an overthrow.”

Jwa also said South Korea, which has its own experiences with developmental dictatorship from the so-called “Miracle on the Han” during the Park Chung-hee presidency (1961-79), should “propose a partnership with North Korea’s ’Miracle on the Daedong’ project and pledge its cooperation.”

“If a ‘Miracle on the Daedong’ occurs, it is very likely that North Korea will feel less of a need to engage in armed provocations or nuclear development, and will pursue a strategy of coexistence with its neighbors instead,” Jwa predicted, suggesting Seoul would be better off solving the North Korean nuclear issue through cooperation first rather than making it a precondition for future cooperation.

The argument is seen as especially interesting coming from an endowed chair professor at the Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul. In particular, Jwa advised using the Park Chung-hee administration as a model for development while recognizing a development dictatorship under the leadership of the Pyongyang regime.

Yeungnam University vice president Choi Oi-chul, considered one of President Park Geun-hye’s closest associates, is a former director of the school.

 

By Son Won-je, staff reporter

 

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

 

 

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