As Americans anxiously follow the daily swings of the Dow Jones stock market index and NASDAQ prices, most economists agree the key to the fluctuations is seen in the struggles of the Asian markets as they conform to a dominant market economy.
Lee Hong-Koo, Korea's ambassador to the United States, delivered a talk yesterday entitled "Korea at the Crossroads: Crisis of Transition Into the New Millennium" before a filled Davidson Hall in the University's School of Business Administration.
Addressing the recent economic and political crisis in Korea, former Prime Minister Hong-Koo described his country as part of a "rough neighborhood" that includes the nations of China, Japan and Russia.
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| MATT MADILL/Daily Lee Hong-Koo, Korea's ambassador to the United States, speaks at Davidson Hall yesterday. His talk addressed the crisis of transition into the new millenium.
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"So the struggle to survive and to preserve national identity in this rough neighborhood has been an unending struggle for the Korean people."
Hong-Koo detailed what he views as his nation's lack of willingness to perform the changes necessary to make Korea successful in the new global economy.
"If the end of the Cold War signified the triumph of capitalism over communism, Koreans should have paid more attention to the nature of a global capital market, but they didn't," Hong-Koo said.
"Thus, when the Asian crisis hit the Korean economy in the latter part of last year, Koreans found themselves extremely vulnerable and totally defenseless."
But Hong-Koo said he remains optimistic about Korea's economic future and is proud of how it has "become second nature for Koreans to face crisis squarely and to find a solution, however difficult it may be."
Several audience members commented on the ambassador's display of optimism, including political science Prof. Harold Jacobson.
09-15-98
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