Former Prime Minister Chung Un-chan stepped down as the head of the Commission on Shared Growth for Large and Small Companies, raising speculation that he may be looking to run for office.

Although Chung said that he was stepping down as he considered it the best way to raise interest in shared-growth among the government and the public, observers suspect that the move is the first step in running in the presidential election at the end of the year.

In addition, Chung strongly criticized the Federation of Korean Industries, raising speculation that he could take up resolving economic polarization as his cause in the campaign. 

“The Federation of Korean Industries is a substitute for the dictatorial regimes that acted as a protective shield,” Chung said at the 14th meeting of the shared-growth committee in Seoul where he announced his resignation.

“(The Federation of Korean Industries) Needs to be reborn or dismantled. I was convinced that large companies were partners when the commission was launched. But they only talk about shared growth without really considering it.”

He added that all the while the government has been trying to promote shared growth between large companies and small- and medium-sized enterprises, the large companies have opposed various policies aimed at the goal.

The former prime minister also did not spare criticism of the government, which could be a move aimed at distancing himself from the Lee Myung-bak administration.

“The government does not want to take any responsibility, and the bureaucrats are sticking to the system of sharing results, which has been shown to be ineffective after five to six years of testing,” Chung said.

“I now plan to walk into the lives of the public to think about ways for creating a world where large companies and SMEs, the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor, the capital and the provinces, South and the North (Koreas) grow together. Whatever the role, whatever the responsibility, I will do my best.”

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)