By Yoon Sojung
Video = MIT's official YouTube channel
Two of the three winners of this year's Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences have praised Korea's economic development as a leading example of success based on desirable systems.
The Nobel committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Oct. 14 announced three American economists as laureates of the prestigious honor "for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity."
Two of the three, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, who are both professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said this that day in an online news conference on their school's official YouTube channel.
In 2012, Acemoglu jointly published the bestselling book "Why Nations Fail" with the third recipient, University of Chicago professor James Robinson.
In the interview, Acemoglu said, "The South and the North (Korea) were on par before the country was separated and diverged in terms of its institutions, and over time, a more than 10-fold difference built up."
"South Korea is not without problems and democratization was very difficult," he added. "But the South Korean economy picked up speed after democratization and did so in a healthy way."
"South Korea started out poor after World War II and it was quite authoritarian at the beginning," Johnson said. "It was not an easy journey."
"But as a result, the South Korean economy, which is not without problems today, is in much better shape."
On Korea's economic growth, he said, "Their achievements are really remarkable compared to some other countries that have been able to pull it off," adding, "That's the direction our work should orient people."
On what the Korean economy needs to do, Acemoglu mentioned the problems of the nation's conglomerate-led economy and rapidly aging society, urging more openness to new ideas and technologies as solutions.
The two MIT professors also spoke about North Korea. "I think that the (North Korean) system is facing more and more difficulties," Acemoglu said. "One day hopefully, it will unite with South Korea under a more democratic system."
On the North's nuclear and missile programs, Johnson said, "This is extremely dangerous," adding, "There are many things to worry about in the North Korea situation."
The Nobel committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Oct. 14 announced (from left) MIT professors Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson and University of Chicago professor James Robinson as the co-winners of this year's Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their studies on "how institutions are formed and affect prosperity." (Nobel Prize's official homepage)
