Developing Report card to identify Key Infrastructure needs and funding

Abstract

Over the next 10 years, South Korea is expected to grow at a rapid pace. The relation between Korea's infrastructure and economy has always been an important issue with rapid industrialization since the early seventies. However, compared to the advanced economies, Korea's infrastructure lags far behind. This is evident in the appearance of major infrastructure bottlenecks since the mid-1990s, with the continued expansion of the economy. Also, with the achievement of higher living standards and greater democracy, Korean's expectations regarding infrastructure are swiftly rising. Providing infrastructure for better quality of life has become an important policy objective for the government. Yet, many of the urgently needed infrastructure programs and projects have been delayed by various obstacles, such as resistance from determined environmentalists and other interest groups, sharply divided political opinions, calls for radical policy changes, exposure of contract-related scandals, and unprecedented budgetary requirements. Considering these issues in the context of the new era of the information and knowledge-based economy, Korea needs new development goals focused on restructuring, liberalization, and private sector development. This research which gives a grade of C to the Korea's infrastructure prepares a factual finding and evaluation of the condition of the Nation's infrastructure system and brings public attention to the need for investing in our infrastructure. The Report card and issue briefs for each category are prepared after discussing with Technical and management experts from both public and private sectors. Delhi technique was adopted throughout the research, Several Government officials, Engineers, consultants; Researchers were interviewed using existing public documents. Each category was evaluated on the basis of condition and performance, capacity versus need, and funding versus need. The grade was also influenced if future funding was known to be increasing or decreasing. The grades indicate that the country as a whole is performing at a lower rate than other Asia-pacific countries. Which clearly suggests all areas of Korea's infrastructure is in need of more continual investment and public awareness of infrastructure issues.