Kang Man Soo - Who is the Strategy and Finance Minister?
Saturday, December 6th, 2008
Kang Man Soo. He’s Korea’s head of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance - akin to the United States Treasury Department. It’s their job to make macroeconomic policies that will protect and grow the economy. Mr. Kang is the man on the right in the picture above. He either looks mighty worried… or angry that he’s being raked over the coals… or both.
A year ago the won/dollar exchange rate was 950 won / 1 dollar. Now it's over 1450 won / 1 US dollar.
He just started in March 2008 after being appointed by President Lee Myung Bak, who himself started in February 2008. This has been a wild eight months for the two. Earlier in the year, Mr. Kang proposed weakening the won to stimulate exports. It was a heated debate because Korea relies so much on imports - everything from oil (94% of which is imported) to Haagen Dazs. This spiked inflation and created strain for companies who saw their buying power drop by over 30%.
However, an increase in exports and decreased overseas travel has resulted in trade surpluses for October, November and most likely December. On the other hand, he did switch his position on the won - advocating the use of foreign reserves to boost the local currency. Korea’s foreign reserves lost approximately $60 billion dollars in under six months. It now stands at approximately $200 billion US dollars. That’s still a respectable figure at the sixth largest foreign exchange reserve holder in the world. But up until last month it was fifth. And now it seems that it will dip below Brazil in rankings and become the seventh. Stop bleeding money!
If you don't believe Koreans are sassy... then risk the mistake of asking them about politics. This poster literally says... Kang Man Soo... go on home. Poor guy. He's trying so hard.
Oh, it’s tough when you’re at the top. You spend your life specializing and becoming an expert in one area - only to be told that your ideas are outdated once you arrive. Mr. Kang - now referred to as a stubborn ‘Old Boy’ - is now facing his latest controversy. It is the so-called ‘March Crisis’ - allegedly a cataclysmic event that will take place in March 2009 when the won will lose liquidity because of Japanese banks demanding payment of South Korean loans.
However, numbers, if they are accurate, usually dispel paranoia. In this case they are on Old Boy’s side. Mr. Kang asserts the $10.7 billion dollars borrowed from Japan is only 9 percent of Korea’s total debt. And moreover, he says only $1.1 billion matures in March. Japanese capital will stay in the market he assures.
Though the Seoulite thinks people should keep applying constructive pressure - he also believes people should remember he’s only been here for eight months. It’s probably the most important eight months the post has ever seen, but it’s just barely the amount of time needed to birth a baby. But Old Boy also needs a new strategy and plan. The Seoulite hopes month nine transforms him into a New Boy!
You can download the monthly Economic Bulletin from the Ministry's website in English. To snack on numbers, data charts and financial analysis, click on this picture to go directly to the site.
