Home  Corporate Affairs South Korea's Experience with the IMF
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South Korea's Experience with the IMF |
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As executive director of the IMF, Oh Jong Nam holds a position that doesn't make for smooth social situations: he represents South Korea (and 13 other countries) at an organization most Koreans are wary of. Part of the widespread distrust is inevitable, Oh said. When the IMF makes big loans to distressed countries, it has to demand certain structural reforms as collateral, so it will never be as popular as the World Bank, which simply finances expensive, highly visible infrastructure projects. When the IMF lent South Korea $21 billion in 1997 during the Asian Financial Crisis, it imposed conditions that facilitated a recovery, but left some economic players out in the cold. Today, South Korea is not borrowing from the IMF, but those who were hurt by the 1997 reforms continue to complain, casting the organization in the worst possible light. Despite this, Oh added, the IMF itself does bear some blame for its negative image, especially when it comes to credibility. The IMF frequently lectures developing countries on the importance of good governance. However, when it comes to equitable rule-making, its own house isn't in order. The organization's critical decisions are made by a pre-determined number of representatives from each member country. The balance of representatives is disproportionate, favoring those countries that founded it in 1944, and leaving others, like South Korea, underrepresented.
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