[Yonhap News Photo]
SEOUL -- Kwon Goo-hoon, a senior economist at U.S. investment bank and financial services company Goldman Sachs, vowed to help South Korean President Moon Jae-in realize his new economic map based on rapprochement with North Korea and expand new opportunities.
"I will advise on what good policies are and what policies the government should choose," Kwon said Wednesday after he received a letter of appointment from Moon to head the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation, an advisory body formed to reinforce cooperation with the northern region.
Kwon, 56, worked on economic reform projects at the Harvard Institute for International Development from 1992 to 1993. From 1998 to 2001, he was a senior economist and strategist at ABN AMRO, a Dutch bank. Before joining Goldman Sachs in 2007, he worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The economist said he would fully use his experience in the IMF and Goldman Sachs to "contribute to the realization of a new economic map based on peace on the Korean peninsula and the expansion of new space opportunities" sought by Moon.
"As the committee is an advisory body, I will coordinate our cooperation with the northern economies that might be related to North Korea if sanctions are lifted," he said.
Kwon will retain his job as a Goldman Sachs economist, but he suggested he may have to think about abandoning one job when the committee becomes busy. The appointment followed a direct recommendation by Moon, who was impressed by Kwon's lecture on TV, the presidential office said.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
