Korean Techno-Economic Policy for a New World

Robert D. Atkinson is the founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a prominent K-Street think tank. Dr. Atkinson is a longtime KIET collaborator and friend of the institution. This article is part of a series of works by influential scholars being published by KIET as part of its 50th Anniversary Global Perspectives Series. The global techno-economic environment has changed in fundamental ways that require a similar change in South Korea's overarching strategy and implementation of technoeconomic growth and competitiveness policies. In particular, Korean policy will need to find new ways to address the challenges from the United States (protectionism) and China (techno-economic aggression), while at the same time committing to moving from fast follower to global innovation leader, and driving productivity growth throughout all sectors of the economy, especially outside of manufacturing. The political will for Korea to succeed in the previous international order, which persisted from the late 1960s to the mid-2000s, was generally supportive. It's not clear whether that will to make the institutionally challenging changes needed to survive, if not thrive, in the next era exists today. But the first step to creating that drive is to articulate the challenges of today and the need for a new strategic approach. This article modestly and tentatively lays out four key challenges and some suggested approaches for addressing them.