In many ways, the year 2002 was a meaningful year for Korea as it marked a new.
beginning with a much-changed corporate and financial landscape after four.
years of difficult but necessary reform and restructuring. By near unanimity, the.
transition Korea underwent after the 1997 financial crisis has been praised as a.
successful one. In 2002, Korea achieved a 6% GDP growth in no small part on.
the strength of Korea's significantly restructured economy and restoration of.
high sovereign ratings from the leading international credit-rating companies.
In the financial sector, the continuing cleaning up of failing financial institutions.
and disposition of bad assets added new layers of strength and soundness to the.
financial service industry. Financial conglomeration and convergence of financial.
services also maintained momentum in 2002. With respect to corporate.
governance, the FSC/FSS worked hard to ensure that outside directors, audit.
committees, cumulative voting, and other governance-enhancing mechanisms.
firmly take root in the corporate culture. The FSC/FSS also took many important.
steps toward greater corporate transparency with the adoption of the fair.
disclosure rule, stricter accounting and disclosure standards, and many investor.
and shareholder protection measures. To ensure managerial accountability of the.
financial disclosures companies make, the FSC/FSS will soon also mandate the.
CEOs and the CFOs of publicly traded companies to personally certify the.
accuracy and completeness of their financial disclosures.
To be sure, Korea's reform and restructuring is clearly not over for there still.
remain many challenges Korea is yet to tackle or fully resolve, and these.
challenges will continue to demand fresh ideas and bold strategies from the.
policymakers. This year began with uncertain domestic and international.
economic prospects amid rising geopolitical concerns and will surely bring many.
new challenges and obstacles to our economy and financial markets.
