An author who spent more than 30 years on the front lines of Korea's land development and housing policy has published "On the Ship Called the Nation" (Yes Plan), capturing his life, public service, and philosophy on governing a nation. More than a simple memoir, the book reads as a record of Korea's growth process since industrialization and the policy decisions behind it.
The story begins with the author's childhood, born into a "dirt-poor" farming village. Having grown up enduring the spring famine period, he was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis during high school. The long battle with illness, which continued until his college graduation, instead became a turning point that changed his outlook on life. He recalls that the composure and independent thinking he gained from experiencing death up close later became the foundation for the conviction that kept him unshaken by outside pressures during his time in public service.
After passing the higher civil service examination and entering public service, he directly experienced the growth and twists of Korean society while working through the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, and the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. He says he came to appreciate the importance of national systems firsthand while witnessing national crises such as the Gupo train accident, the collapse of the Seongsu Bridge, the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store, and the IMF foreign exchange crisis. He particularly emphasizes the importance of personnel. The success or failure of an organization ultimately depends on people, he argues, and placing talented individuals with expertise and a sense of responsibility in the right positions is the core of national competitiveness.
A particularly striking section concerns the author's convictions surrounding property policy. Having served as housing policy director, housing bureau chief, and deputy minister, navigating the front lines of property policy, he vividly conveys the fierce debates between the political world and the bureaucracy over housing prices. At the time, the political world located the cause of rising housing prices in speculative demand and put forward regulatory measures such as stronger taxes and a cap on new apartment sale prices. The author, however, countered that an overwhelming expansion of supply was the fundamental solution. He recalls engaging in heated arguments with the ruling party leadership at party-government council meetings and even being rebuked by the prime minister at a high-level party-government meeting, who told him, "If you had been under me, you would have been fired already," but he did not bend his views.
The author argues that housing prices cannot be solved through regulations or taxes alone. He points out that while Seoul's average floor area ratio remains lower than that of major cities such as Paris, Tokyo, and New York, business and commercial facilities continue to increase, drawing people into the city center, which he diagnoses as a "failure of national spatial strategy." Unless sufficient housing is supplied in areas where demand is concentrated, stabilizing housing prices is impossible, he says. This carries significant implications even now, at a point when housing prices that had been suppressed by regulations are stirring again.
In the latter half, he revisits the meaning of national infrastructure policy by introducing his experiences during his tenure as minister, including completing the Four Major Rivers Project, opening the Gyeongin Ara Waterway, and hosting the Yeosu World Expo. At the same time, he presents his views on future challenges such as low birth rates, regional extinction, and industrial restructuring in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).
In particular, the author emphasizes "trust" as the core value of governing a nation. Infrastructure is ultimately for people, he argues, and institutions, too, cannot function properly unless they earn the public's trust. Amid the various debates surrounding politics and administration, property and land development, the values the author held onto until the end were also trust and responsibility.
