Danny Leipziger, a professor of international business at the George Washington University School of Business, recently met one-on-one with the prime minister of South Korea while attending the 2024 Global Economy and Financial Stability Conference in Seoul.
Leipziger has been engaged with South Korea since the 1980s. He was an adviser to the government while working at the World Bank and has continued building these links since coming to GW in 2010. Leipziger has also authored several books on Korea's successful development.
Leipziger and the prime minister discussed Korea’s economic growth and challenges facing the country, including those posed by the upcoming election in the United States.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo expressed optimism about the economy, noting that inflation had come down, trade was robust and the fiscal position strong.
The prime minister also addressed challenges confronting Korea, including the nation's extremely low fertility rates causing a population decline, housing difficulties, and a recent strike by medical doctors.
While in Seoul, Leipziger also met privately with the governor of the Bank of Korea, Chang-yong Rhee.
GW Today asked Leipziger to discuss the experience.
Q: What insights did your meeting with the prime minister provide about the positive aspects of South Korea’s economic outlook?
A: The prime minister was quite optimistic about the Korean economy, stressing low inflation, a strong fiscal position and a very favorable export picture.
The prime minister shared good economic news about Korea. As reported last week, the inflation rate declined to 2 percent. Trade continued to flourish, and Korea continued to be a leader in high-tech industries including, chip production, electronic vehicles and artificial intelligence. He was, despite a somewhat hostile political environment in the National Assembly, quite optimistic about Korea’s future.
Q: In your discussions, what were identified as the most pressing challenges facing South Korea?
A: Clearly being caught in the big-power rivalry is difficult for South Korea to navigate. China is its biggest trading partner, but it has begun to cut back some ties. At the same time, the U.S. is not only a vital partner in Korea's defense but also a major ally in many economic areas, led by the Free Trade Agreement between the two nations.
Q: What were the key takeaways from your conversations with Chang-yong Rhee regarding Korea’s financial stability and the global economy?
A: First and foremost, he was pleased to announce that Korea had regained its inflation target of 2 percent last week. In terms of financial stability, all East Asian economies want to avoid the housing bubble that they see taking place in China today and in the U.S. in 2008. Although regulation falls under the remit of Korea’s Financial Supervision Service, not the Central Bank, the conference stressed the huge increase in financial exposure of the non-bank financial intermediaries, and Korea can take note of these global developments in boosting its own resilience.
Q: How do you envision GW continuing to collaborate with and strengthen its ties with Korean institutions and universities in the future?
The university has a storied history in South Korea. Two presidents of South Korea, Syngman Rhee and Lee Myung-bak, spent time at GW and thousands of students have graduated from our university. GW’s School of Business alone boasts more than 1,000 graduates with MBAs over many decades.
GW looks forward to hosting a major conference on Korea in November, to be co-organized by the Institute for International Economic Policy at the Elliott School, the GW Institute for Korean Studies, GWSB and the Growth Dialogue. Through these and other efforts, the university is eager to maintain and strengthen its ties with South Korea.
