Park Geun Hye on Creative Economy
TL;DR
Park Geun Hye championed the Creative Economy as the core philosophy for fostering job creation and new growth engines through innovation.
Key Points
She confirmed the details of the 'Creative Economy Action Plan' in June 2013, which focused on three goals: creating new jobs and markets, strengthening global leadership, and building a society that respects creativity.
The initiative sought to foster a 'Silicon Valley-like' venture funding ecosystem by eliminating financial and regulatory barriers for entrepreneurs and SMEs.
In September 2016, the president touted the creative economy drive at the G-20 summit as a new model for 'inclusive innovation' to combat global low growth.
Summary
Park Geun Hye established the "job-centered creative economy" as the central tenet of her administration's state affairs starting in 2013 to address slow economic growth and a lack of next-generation growth engines. Her vision centered on boosting the economy and creating employment by transforming creative ideas into tangible businesses through the convergence of science, technology, and culture, particularly ICT. The goal was to move beyond the country's previous reliance on a catch-up strategy in manufacturing, acknowledging that this model had reached its limits.
To implement this, the administration announced a comprehensive "Creative Economy Action Plan" which included establishing innovation centers nationwide to connect startups with large conglomerates, known as chaebol, for resources and mentorship. The policy aimed for economic democratization by fostering an ecosystem where creativity is respected and to encourage entrepreneurship by reducing regulatory and financial barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises. Furthermore, she promoted the idea internationally, presenting it as a model for inclusive innovation at global forums like the G-20 summit.
Key Quotes
"Innovation in the fields of virtual and augmented reality, the Internet of Things, big data, as well as artificial intelligence is leading the fourth industrial revolution, and the origins of such changes are people's creative thinking and imaginative power"
"...the Korean economy has reached the limits of the catch-up strategy which had driven economic growth for the last 40 years"
Frequently Asked Questions
Park Geun Hye's primary goal with the Creative Economy initiative was to establish a new growth engine for South Korea's economy. She aimed to create new industries and jobs by fostering the fusion of creativity, culture, science, and technology, moving beyond older economic models.
The administration established innovation centers across the country to link startups with larger companies for support and resources. It also created the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning to coordinate and implement the policies central to the creative economy blueprint.
Park Geun Hye actively promoted the Creative Economy abroad, presenting it as a solution to global economic challenges like anemic growth. She framed it as being in sync with global movements toward innovation and inclusive growth at international events.
Sources7
Park calls creative economy growth engine of S. Korea's economy
Park touts her creative economy drive : Korea.net : The official website of the Republic of Korea
The Creative Economy of the Park Geun-hye Administration - Korea Economic Institute of America
How Korea is transforming into a creative economy
'Creative Economy Action Plan' announced
Creating Korea's Future Economy: Creating Korea's Future Economy
Green growth meets creative economy — Global Green Growth Institute
* This is not an exhaustive list of sources.