Leaner, meaner Korea seen after reforms

Seoul, July 3: If all goes according to plan, a leaner and meaner Korea Inc will emerge Phoenix-like from the ashes of the current economic debacle in the new millennium.

But restructuring of what was once the world8217;s 11th largest economy is going to take more than a few years and may in the end only moderately change a deeply ingrained politico-economic culture, analysts said.

quot;Korea will go through an incremental process of reform. But compared to the past, it will be revolutionary,quot; said Moon Chung-in, acting dean of Seoul8217;s prestigious Yonsei university.

Kim Byung-kook, political science professor at Korea University, agreed: quot;I8217;d be very sceptical if Korea will be out of the financial crisis by the year 2000.quot;