November 7th.
Hong Kong's financial channel has been broadcasting news about negative factors affecting the Korean won. Chen Jianlin specifically highlighted the conflict between South Korean Finance Minister Hong and the Financial Reform Committee on the program.
Starting this year, large industrial enterprises in South Korea have been going bankrupt one after another.
The bankruptcies of large manufacturing companies such as Hanbo Steel, Sammi Group, Hankook Group, and Kia Group have severely damaged the backbone of South Korea's industry, while also saddled major South Korean banks and insurance companies with huge bad debts and non-performing assets.
At this time, the impact of several financial crises in Southeast Asia, coupled with the fluctuations in the Korean won market due to the decline in gold prices, meant that South Korea's already dysfunctional financial structure was no longer sufficient to support the country's unique operating mechanism during this period.
Therefore, the South Korean leadership urgently needs to promote the optimization of the country's financial system through reforms of financial institutions and financial regulatory systems.
Unfortunately, ideals are ideals, and reality is reality.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has long been subject to the intervention of the Ministry of Finance, and the formulation of many policies and strategies must be approved by the Ministry of Finance, which lacks a certain degree of flexibility.
Despite numerous unfavorable circumstances, the Financial Reform Committee was successfully established, but its proposed financial reform plan was rejected by the Ministry of Finance.
After several such struggles, a relatively stable power structure has formed in the South Korean business community.
The Ministry of Finance and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority joined forces to stubbornly protect their vested interests, while the Financial Reform Commission, as the challenger, defiantly clashed with the Ministry of Finance several times.
The ultimate goal of the Reform Committee is to establish a financial oversight committee independent of the Ministry of Finance and various financial institutions. The plan has already taken shape, and the two major forces are fighting tooth and nail for the formulation of a policy and the completion of a plan. Neither side is willing to give in.
Meanwhile, other key players in South Korea's financial market, such as conglomerates, investment banks, and financial institutions, chose to remain on the sidelines.
Many commercial banks and financial institutions are trembling with fear, waiting for reform instructions from above.
Whether it lives or dies depends on what kind of plan the reform committee proposes.
After Chen Jianlin and others painstakingly explained to the public the struggle between the Ministry of Finance, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and the Financial Reform Committee, this matter became a topic of conversation among people.
Guo Bingxiang seized the opportunity to use the media system established by his family to spread information about the chaos in South Korea's internal reforms to the South Korean authorities and international speculative capital.
While everyone was enjoying the gossip, they finally understood why South Korea had seen a series of scandals involving politicians and economists recently.
It turns out that all of this was paving the way for this reform.
Because of the poor reputation of the South Korean Ministry of Finance, coupled with negative news in the stock market, international speculative capital quickly set its sights on South Korea as a lucrative target.
After days of public pressure, Kim Hee-cheol, president of the Ministry of Finance of South Korea, had no choice but to speak out.
He first reported positive economic news from Southeast Asia, and then issued a statement on behalf of the Ministry of Finance:
"The Ministry of Finance firmly upholds the national will and will actively cooperate with the needs of South Korea's financial reforms, providing relevant facilitation for the progress of the Financial Reform Committee's work."
"Recently, many people have speculated that the Ministry of Finance is deliberately obstructing the work progress of the National Development and Reform Commission. This is completely fabricated and baseless!"
"Since the establishment of the Financial Reform Committee at the beginning of the year, the committee members have maintained close communication with the Ministry of Finance. Both sides have been frank and responsible, all for the purpose of promoting the adjustment of the financial structure and the optimization of the financial system."
"We are definitely not as discordant as the rumors suggest!"
"The slow progress of the National Development and Reform Commission's plan is not due to obstacles, but rather because it is responsible and needs to perfect the plan before implementation!"
His speech quickly drew cheers and support from the people.
People have expressed their opinions online, hoping that the Ministry of Finance can have more people like Kim Hee-chul, so as not to hinder national reforms.
Kim Hee-chul's speech unexpectedly garnered him a wave of fans, which infuriated the Finance Minister, who retorted enviously to the Financial Supervisory Commission's Executive Director:
"I have always supported the Financial Reform Committee. As long as the committee doesn't always try to kick out the Ministry of Finance, we are willing to maintain the independence of financial regulation."
Guan Hong pursed his lips and said against his will, "Besides, the independence of financial regulation and whether or not financial regulation is supervised by the Ministry of Finance are not contradictory, right?"
The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority squinted his eyes, which were like slits. "Senior, you are right."
Those attending the meeting below echoed the sentiments, except for the other "protagonist," the reform committee representative, who sat in the far corner, and remained silent.
During this period, they worked diligently, but Guan Hong always found fault with them and made various excuses to hinder the reform.
The people at the Reform Commission were tired of hearing the same old bureaucratic jargon.
Therefore, at this plenary meeting, both the top two leaders of the Reform Commission claimed illness and did not attend, sending only a few interns to participate. Naturally, the interns dared not express their opinions in such a setting.
Guan Hong sighed, "The Financial Supervisory Committee, after a year of preparation by the Reform Commission, is about to be successfully established."
"I really can't bear to see this plan fall through."
"Now, out of nowhere, news has come out that there is discord between our Ministry of Finance and the Reform Commission."
"That's utterly alarmist!"
Guan Hong, without batting an eye, continued to gesticulate wildly to his subordinates, "This must be a scheme orchestrated by South Korean conglomerates and international speculators, deliberately spreading false information about the chaos in our internal reforms."
The executive director of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and all the staff of the Ministry of Finance dared not speak.
At this moment, Kim Hee-cheol, who was at the height of his popularity, made a comment:
"Currently, the public's attention is focused on financial reform, and Southeast Asian economies are also on the rise. I think we should push forward the reform process as soon as possible, otherwise it will be difficult to explain to the public."
Guan Hong and the Reform Committee were already at odds, and now Kim Hee-cheol was pushing forward with the reform process in front of everyone... Guan Hong's face instantly turned very ugly.
However, Kim Hee-cheol was, after all, his deputy, and had recently won the approval of the people, so even he couldn't publicly embarrass Kim Hee-cheol.
He immediately stated, "I still maintain my view that financial regulatory agencies can maintain their independence, but they absolutely cannot break free from the control of the Ministry of Finance, otherwise it will lead to another extreme."
The representatives of the Reform Committee looked at the Minister of Finance with great resentment, having already cursed him a thousand times over in their hearts.
They repeatedly emphasized that regulatory agencies need to maintain their independence, but the minister was unwilling to relinquish power and repeatedly obstructed their submission of reform proposals.
Guan Hong's actions created numerous obstacles for their reforms, and the plan remained silent for more than half a year without a clear response from higher authorities.
......
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