Kim Yong-beom, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, "Quarantine and Lives Come First... Economic Scars Must Be Accepted"

Kim Yong-beom, the 1st Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, is attending and speaking at a joint briefing held on the 8th at the Government Seoul Office regarding the 'Supplementary Measures for Stabilizing Mask Supply.' Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Kim Yong-beom, First Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, emphasized regarding the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation that "quarantine and lives come first, and economic damage must be accepted."

On the 21st, Vice Minister Kim stated on Facebook, "You cannot have both quarantine and economy," explaining this point. He said, "(COVID-19) cases increase rapidly in a cone-shaped pattern if quarantine activities are absent or lax. This is the current situation in Europe and the United States," adding, "If strong quarantine measures like those in our country are followed, the spread slows down and the 'medical graph' flattens. Almost all countries are now putting their lives on the line and going all-in on this strategy."

However, he added, "The stronger the social distancing, the more the economy falls into a shutdown state," and "As the medical graph flattens, the economic recession curve deepens."

Vice Minister Kim continued, "The more troubling reality is that difficulties do not end there," mentioning 'financial market instability' and expressing concern that "If the real economy is a dark cloud, the financial market is the wind. When the dark cloud of real economic recession forms, the wind blows first in the financial market, quickly causing intense reactions."

Regarding the domestic financial market situation, which has been hit daily by shocks such as stock price crashes and rapid exchange rate rises, he described it as "A week like a war has passed. Fierce storms have swept through domestic and international financial markets, making the days ahead completely uncertain."

Vice Minister Kim introduced a book titled Act Quickly and Do Whatever It Takes, published by prominent global economists united under the theme "What should economics do to overcome the COVID crisis?" He emphasized the point that "excessive measures are better than insufficient ones" in relation to COVID-19 countermeasures.

He evaluated the book as "containing the nature and development process of the crisis, policies adopted by various countries, and creative policy alternatives."

He then summarized policy advice from Jason Furman, former White House economic advisor during the Obama administration, included in the book, mentioning five points: ▲ Excessive measures are better than insufficient ones ▲ Make full use of existing programs ▲ Create new programs as needed ▲ Do not worry too much about overlapping support or side effects ▲ Request maximum help from the private sector.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.