A group of the financial, corporate and political leaders gathered there a while ago to diagnose the current financial crisis and prognosticate the post-financial crisis world. When a Korean participant asked Lee, who was presiding, about the direction of the Korean economy after the crisis and ways for it to survive competition with China, the answer was simple.

Korea has several clear strengths China is still missing, Lee said. First, it has the experience of being a member of the world economy for over 50 years while managing an outward-oriented economy. More time is needed for China to catch up with the experience and knowhow Korea has. Second, the human networks among businessmen, politicians, academic and cultural circles Korea has built are an important asset that cannot be achieved in a day or two. Third, Korea is clearly ahead of China in transparency, accountability and the rule of law, essential for the management of a market economy.

The Korean economy has many other advantages. One thing it should be wary of is xenophobia. So long as that continues to rear its head from time to time, some Korean achievements will remain dimmed. If it develops its advantages further and corrects the disadvantages, Korea will be able to cement its credibility in the international community and foster its international competitiveness.

In a way, these are standard prescriptions. But his commonplace remarks contain some truth.

We are now struggling to survive the global financial and economic crisis. The government keeps announcing remedies, and they are necessary. The public is demanding more, and sooner.

We need to watch out that, in putting out the flames, we don’t lose sight of the big framework of our economy. Are we obsessed with the transfer of ownership of corporations to foreign capital during the 1997 financial crisis and trying to build new barriers against foreign capital or discriminate against it? We have to review if we are harming transparency in making laws and rules aimed at improving our system. We must also ponder if, pandering to the selfishness of the big business groups, we are not blocking future growth industries. If policy makers make sweet promises they cannot keep, they would lose credibility at home and abroad and from businesspeople and investors as well.

Of course, blindly following so-called global standards, whose considerable problems are only just being exposed is unwise. But marching in the opposite direction is dangerous.

We will overcome the current economic crisis. But to do that, we have to confirm again the basic direction of our national government that enabled our country to become an unprecedented success in the world.

Lee Kuan Yew's advice is simple and clear: Strengthen our achievements and improve our faults.

When he visited Korea in October 1979, Lee reportedly gave then President Park Chung-hee two pieces of advice. One was that it is dangerous to attempt to resolve all conflicts with Communists through negotiations, and the other that the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea, which president Jimmy Carter was pushing at the time, must be avoided at all cost. The "wise man of Asia" was as alert to common sense then as he is now.

The column was contributed by Hyun Hong-ju, a former ambassador to the U.S.