YOU, JONG-KEUN

Economic Advisor to the President &
Governor of North Cholla Province
Republic of Korea

 Dr. You ran unopposed and was reelected as governor of North Cholla Province, located on the southwestern coast of the Korean Peninsula on June 4,1998. He was first elected as governor on June 27, 1995 when Republic of Korea held local elections for the first time in 35 years.

Before entering into Korean politics, Dr. You spent nearly half of his life in the United States. After finishing the undergraduate program and a compulsory three-year military service in Korean army, he went to the United States in 1970 with US$100 in his pocket. He earned his M.A and Ph.D. in Economics at the State University of New York at Binghamton in three years and went to Rutgers University as an assistant professor. In 1979, he joined the Office of Economic Policy of the State of New Jersey, an advisory body for the governor. In 1990, he returned to Rutgers as a full professor at the Center for Urban Policy Research. There, he built an econometric model for New Jersey and to make long-term. forecasts and policy simulations.

In 1978, Dr. You visited Korea to celebrate his father’s 60th birthday. Shocked at the extensive abuse of human rights by the late President Park Chung Hee, he dedicated himself to the struggle for human rights and restoration of democracy in his homeland. He is now one of the leading figures in the Korean democracy movement. He served as Secretary General of the New York-based Coalition for Democracy in Korea and President of the Washington-based Korean Institute for Human Rights. He also played a major role in the unsuccessful 1987 and 1992 presidential campaigns of the pro-democracy leader Kim Dae-jung. Returning home to Korea, in July 1994, Dr. You began a path of public service as Deputy Secretary General of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Foundation for the Asia-Pacific Region. As Executive Director of the Organizing Committee, and later as Secretary General, Dr. You was responsible for the successful launching of the Forum of Democratic Leaders in the Asia-Pacific (FDL-AP), led by co-presidents Kim Dae-jung, Oscar Arias, Corazon Aquino and Sonia Gandhi.

Since his inauguration as governor of North Cholla Province, Dr. You has aggressively courted foreign direct investment and promoted liberalization and deregulation, for which he has been widely recognized as an "IMF-style reformer." On December 23, 1997, he was appointed to the 12-member Emergency Economic Council, which oversaw the country’s economic administration during the transition period of power. On January 13, 1998, he was named Economic Advisor to the President-elect and on February 25, 1998,  Economic Advisor to the President. Recently, Business Week (June 29, 1998 issue) chose him as one of the 50 stars of Asia and recognized him as one of the leading policymakers who are at the forefront of change. Dr. You thus joined a club of distinguished Asian leaders including President Kim Dae-jung, Prime Minister Zhu Rongli and Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Dr. You has authored several publications including 10 books and numerous research papers in both Korean- and English-languages.

EXPERIENCE

Feb 25, 1998 to Present                 Economic Advisor to the President, and Member of the
                                                    Presidential Committee for Economic Policy Coordination

Jan 13, 1998 to Feb 24, 1998         Economic Advisor to the President-elect

Dec 27, 1997 to Jan 13, 1998         Member of the Joint Economic Committee

Jul 1, 1995 to Present                     Governor of North Cholla Province and Member of Central Committee,
                                                    National Congress for the New Politics

Jul 1994 to Jun 1995                       Deputy Secretary General, Kim Dae-jung Peace Foundation
                                                    for the Asia-Pacific Region

Jul 1994 to Dec 1994                     Executive Director of the Organizing Committee, FDL-AP

Sep 1990 to Jun 1994                    Professor I, Center for Urban Policy Research,
                                                   Rutgers University of New Jersey, Brunswick, NJ, U.S.A.

Sep 1991 to Dec 1992                 Chairman, Public Relations Committee, Democratic Party, Seoul, Korea
                                                    (Responsible for all PR-related strategies for the unsuccessful December 1992
                                                     presidential election campaign for Kim Dae-jung.)

Sep 1987 to Dec 1987                    Special Advisor to Presidential Candidate Kim Dae-jung for
                                                    Policy and Planning, Party for Peace and Democracy, Korea

Sep 1979 to Jun 1990                   Associate Graduate Faculty, Department of Economics,
                                                    Rutgers University, Newark, NJ

Sep 1978 to Dec 1983                 Editor-at-Large, Chayu Shinmoon (Liberty Times), New York, U.S.A.

Sep 1973 to Jun 1979                 Assistant Professor, Department 0f Economics, Rutgers University,
                                                New Brunswick, NJ

EDUCATION

February 1966            B.A. in Economics, Korea University

May 1972                     M.A. in Economics, State University of New York at Binghamton

August 1973          Ph.D. in Economics, State University of New York at Binghamton

May 1996                  Honorary Doctorate in International Politics, Diplomatic Academy,
                                 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russia

PUBLICATIONS

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