SEOUL, Oct. 29 -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye vowed Wednesday to make all-out efforts to revitalize the lackluster economy as the country is at a crossroads between growth and recession.
Park said during her second budget speech at the parliament that the economy is still trapped in a crisis, citing the third- quarter GDP data where manufacturing production fell 0.9 percent and exports slumped 2.6 percent, the largest reduction in almost six years.
It was the first time in the country's history that an incumbent president made a budget speech in the parliament for the second consecutive year. Her predecessors had their prime ministers read addresses on their behalf in the second year.
Park said the competitiveness of local companies has sharply weakened due to three new challenges, such as low growth, low inflation and low Japanese yen, noting that external uncertainties deepened as seen in expectations for the U.S. Federal Reserve's earlier-than-expected rate increase.
Unless the economy properly tackles such challenges from at home and abroad, it will lose momentum and slip into a prolonged recession, Park said, adding that now is the last-remaining golden time for the economy at a crossroads between growth and recession.
She asked all economic agents, including the government, the parliament, companies and individuals, to make all-out efforts to revitalize the economy, noting that the government drew up an expansionary budget plan despite concerns over growing national debts and widening fiscal deficit.
The government submitted a 376 trillion won (360 billion U.S. dollars) budget for 2015, up 5.7 percent from 2014. By law, the parliament is required to pass the budget bill by the Dec. 2 deadline.
Park said that safety budget for 2015 accounted for 17.9 percent of the total, higher than any other category, but she failed to directly mention the April ferry sinking disaster, which caused the need for overhaul in the country's disaster management structure.
The country's worst peacetime accident in about two decades claimed more than 300 lives, mostly high school students. Families of the victims rallied within the parliament, calling for their participation in investigation into the disaster, but Park didn't even turn her eyes to them, according to the TV footage.
Meanwhile, Park made a brief comment about ongoing negotiations for the free trade deal with China, saying she will make aggressive efforts to conclude free trade agreements (FTA) with China, New Zealand and Vietnam at an earliest date.
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