President Lee Jae-myung, on a state visit to Singapore, met with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on the 2nd and said, "The integrity of Singapore's public sector is something we should learn from."
At the meeting held at Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, President Lee stated, "Singapore and South Korea can expand and develop into a mutually beneficial relationship."
"Both countries cannot claim to have particularly outstanding resources or potential, but share similarities in achieving growth through investment in human capital," President Lee explained. "We also share the similarity of having many people living in a small territory."
He emphasized, "What is truly remarkable is that despite achieving tremendous economic growth in this small territory, housing and real estate issues have not become social problems at all."
President Lee said, "Since my days as Seongnam Mayor, I have had special interest in Singapore's real estate policies. I should learn much about Singapore's real estate policies through this visit."
He further stressed, "Another remarkable point we should learn from is the exceptional integrity and capability of the public sector. The clear system of rewards and punishments, and compensation based on capability that nearly matches private enterprises, has eliminated opportunities for corruption—this is truly worth learning from."
President Lee also noted, "The core of South Korea's recent industrial and economic policy is investing in future advanced technology sectors including artificial intelligence. Singapore is already considerably ahead in the AI field, so there will be significant room for cooperation."
President Tharman said, "Many things that were once predictable are now difficult to predict. In these circumstances, friendly nations like South Korea and Singapore must strengthen their relationships."
He added, "Even 10 years ago, we were good friends, but there was not much depth in our economic relationship. In recent years, bilateral relations have accelerated rapidly in trade, investment, R&D, and cultural exchanges. I hope our two countries can contribute to a new Asian structure and furthermore to a stable global order."