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Korea fails to prepare for 4th industrial revolution
The Moon Jae-in administration has done little to cope with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Businesses say they feel the nation has failed to make any progress in promoting the vital industrial transition.
According to a recent survey by the Korea Federation of SMEs, nine out of 10 small- and medium-sized enterprises said the government's attempts to prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution have fallen short of their expectations. Only 12.7 percent of the respondents answered that the government is "doing well."
Asked which part of the government's policy is most problematic, 72 percent cited "insufficient efforts to take into account the reality facing SMEs," followed by 14.3 percent who pointed out the "lack of strategy to narrow the technology gap with advanced countries." And 13.7 percent pointed to the "ambiguity of policy objectives," while 12.7 percent picked "inadequate cooperation among related ministries and agencies." Three hundred SMEs took part in the opinion poll.
The survey results demonstrate a wide gap between policy and industrial reality. Since its inauguration in 2017, the Moon administration has put forth various kinds of administrative support for this area, stressing the nation's future lies with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The administration even launched a presidential committee for this purpose. It is, therefore, all the more shocking that nearly 90 percent of businesses said they are not feeling the effects of such support.
To succeed in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, nothing is more important than the government's cooperation with the private sector. If the government and industry work separately from each other, the country cannot produce any successful results. Not only government officials but also business executives should have a sense of crisis arising from the new wave of change.
Policymakers should try to find a bottom-up solution by listening to business leaders' voices at industrial sites. Concrete and detailed steps, instead of vague and abstract forms of administrative support, are prerequisites. Related officials ought to come up with timely kinds of support, which best suit the nation's reality, as soon as possible.
