ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

Korean constitution has had a chapter called ‘The Economy’ from its enactment to present day. Korean constitution enacted in 1948 contained in the economy chapter provisions of quite strong interventionist character. The interventionist character was somewhat alleviated through the 1954 constitutional revision. The 1962 constitutional revision took a big step towards free market economy, introducing a clause saying “The economic order of the Republic of Korea shall be based on a respect for the freedom and creative initiative of individuals in economic affairs.” In the meanwhile, the 1980 and 1987 constitutional revisions strengthened more or less the economic interventionism. Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world in 1960’s, but is now among 10 great economic powers. Whereas Korea witnessed unprecedented rapid economic growth from 1960’s to 1980’s, however, she has experienced gradual slowdown in growth rates last 30 years from 1990's. The gradual growth slowdown of Korean economy may have many causes, and among them may be the fact that institutions and policies have not provided as proper incentives to work hard and innovate enthusiastically as before. And, this retrogression in incentive system seems to be related to the strengthening of economic interventionism through the 1980 and 1987 constitutional revisions. Liberal democracy and market economy, operating on the basis of private property and free contract, serve as an apparatus for prosperity and development. The most important role of constitution for liberal democracy and market economy is to protect the liberty and property of individuals from arbitrary rulers. And, the more sophisticated an economy or society grows, the more important the role of market or private sector becomes as coordination mechanism. In these regards, we consider as inadequate the constitutional revision proposed by the president recently, which includes many provisions strengthening economic interventionism. Rather, we would need a constitutional revision towards economic liberalization so as to lessen governmental restrictions and subsidies, and to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. From this point of view, we propose a revision of Korean constitution to the effect that: (1) it does not have any more the chapter ‘The Economy,’ which contains lots of provisions for governmental regulations and protections; (2) provisions are included in the chapter 'Rights and Duties of Citizens’ such as “The economic order of the Republic of Korea shall be based on a respect for the freedom and creative initiative of individuals,” “All citizens shall have freedom of contract,” and “The State shall endeavor to encourage free market transactions.”

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