President Lee Myung-bak appointed a new economic team yesterday, February 8.  Strategy and Economy Minister-designate Yoon Jeung-hyun, Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Chin Dong-soo and Senior Presidential Secretary for Economic Affairs Yoon Jin-shik have been tagged as a new economic threesome who will do whatever it takes to save the flagging economy.  

The three are replacing the original economic team, including former Economy Minister Kang Man-soo.  In announcing the change, President Lee drew out an economic analogy by saying: “Kang is tied up with his political debt. The new team is not. Besides, the Kang team was caught in a global crisis that they didn't have much leeway to do anything about.”

The arena has been well-prepared for this new team.  The Korean government approved a 284.5 trillion won (US$205.5 billion) budget for 2009, which is 10% more than last year, and has already announced extra spending programs and tax cuts that amount to billions more dollars.  The country is also planning to issue state bonds worth 74 trillion won, increasing the national debt and causing some concern.

Yoon Jeung-hyun has pledged to coherent, rational policies that gain the trust of the market, in contrast with former Minister Kang, who was unable to generate trust from anyone.  One of his first steps was to endorse the state bonds move, stating that the country can stand fiscal deficits for at least two years.  "The government has no other option but to adopt an expansionary fiscal policy," he said, warning it might be difficult to attain positive growth for 2009.

The three worked together before under Yoong Jeung-hyun’s leadership in the old Ministry of Finance, so they are expected to work well together.  

Chin is a career bureaucrat, serving in many different positions at different ministries throughout the past 30 years of his career.  Before entering government, he was president of the Export-Import Bank of Korea.  He is most responsible for creating the real-name financial transaction system 15 years ago and was also instrumental in the breakup of the Daewoo group while in the Kim Dae-jung administration in 1999.  Under the Roh administration he served as vice finance minister, and also worked at the World Bank and the Financial Supervisory Commission.  

Yoon Jin-shik is also a career ministry man and also used to work at the old finance ministry.  He was the first to draw attention to the original Asian financial crisis in 1997.  He worked for a while in the OECD in Paris, and returned to Korea to be the chief of the Korea Customs Service.  He also served as the minister of industry, commerce and energy under Kim Dae-jung.

The three have their work cut out for them, and the market waits with baited breath to see what they will do.