Kang Kyung-shik

South Korea state institutions 1936.5.10.–

Deputy Prime Minister for the Economy on the eve of the currency crisis, dismissed after failing over Kia and financial reform

Born in Punggi, Yeongju, North Gyeongsang, Kang led the economic stabilisation policy of "stability, autonomy and openness" as assistant minister of the Economic Planning Board in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and as finance minister from 1982 pushed for a real-name financial transaction system, which failed under political opposition. He sat in the 12th, 14th and 15th National Assemblies. Appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy in March 1997, he struggled in vain to resolve the Kia default and pass financial reform bills and was replaced on 19 November. He was prosecuted for dereliction of duty for under-reporting the currency crisis but was finally acquitted in 2004.