미래한국리포트

What Korea has achieved so far is indeed incredible. Koreans have transformed the war-wrecked country into the world’s 15th biggest economy. The per capita income has swelled from below $70 to over $20,000 over the last six decades, a 290-fold increase. Last year, the country chaired the G20 Seoul Summit, helping to reshape the world economic order.

We owe these achievements to our incessant and fierce competition, with Korea proudly ranked the hardest-working OECD member country.

On the other hand, Koreans feel less fulfilled, and happiness is ever elusive, with many bleak phenomena plaguing society. While we spend tremendous amounts on education and have a higher college entry rate than any other OECD country, the employment rate for young people is far below the OECD average. Suicide is becoming more and more frequent among frustrated and dejected youth, and deepening polarization continues to intensify the grievances of the have-nots.

Intense competition might have brought material abundance, but it has not guaranteed happiness. Questions are being raised regarding the continued validity of the way we have been competing.

Since 2004, the SBS Future Korea Report has been putting forward visions and strategies for a better future. It has tackled key issues on the national agenda, including aging, employment, education, happiness, leadership, environment, the financial crisis and sotong (consensus building).

This year the 9th Future Korea Report intends to put competition under scrutiny. This is a way of life that Koreans have previously taken for granted. The key speakers and participants include the 1996 Nobel laureate in economics Professor Sir James Mirrlees, a leading scholar in the field of social justice and welfare and University of Maryland Professor Joe Oppenheimer as well as the Korea Development Institute (KDI), Seoul National University’s Institute for Social Development and Policy Research, Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI) and McKinsey & Company.

The word Competition comes from "compete" which originally means "to seek together." Healthy competition requires cooperation and harmony at both the individual and society levels. Please join us at the Future Korea Report 2011 as we aim to discover the right competition paradigm for Korean society in this era of constant change.