Lee Myung-bak Grand National business-friendly era

Doctrine — stated goals and content

Lee Myung-bak business-friendly Grand National supply-side doctrine — former Hyundai E&C CEO who campaigned on a "747 plan" (7% annual growth, $40,000 per-capita income, 7th-largest economy) built on four pillars: (1) corporate-tax rate cuts (25% → 22% phased 2008-2009, with pass-through to mid-size businesses) and abolition of the comprehensive real-estate tax on top-bracket holders; (2) Four Major Rivers Restoration Project (4대강 사업, ~KRW 22tn / $19bn) — dredging, dam and weir construction across Han, Nakdong, Geum, Yeongsan rivers, pitched as green-growth stimulus and water security but widely critiqued as earth-moving public works; (3) trade-liberalisation completion — KORUS FTA ratification (22 November 2011 National Assembly, effective 15 March 2012) and Korea-EU FTA (July 2011); (4) Low-Carbon Green Growth national strategy (2008, Green Growth Basic Act 2010) creating Korea's first emissions-trading framework (passed 2012, effective 2015) and cap-and-trade infrastructure. National-security turn after the Cheonan sinking (March 2010, 46 sailors killed) and Yeonpyeong shelling (November 2010) — "May 24 measures" cutting most inter-Korean economic ties except Kaesong. Popularity fell from 70%+ to ~20% over US beef imports protests (2008) and Four Rivers criticism; recovered somewhat. Coherence line: chaebol-friendly tax cuts, public-works green-growth, FTA completion, security-hard on North Korea.