By Kim Jae-kyoung
Staff Reporter


South Korea, the world’s 11th largest economy, feels miffed at not being invited to this year’s expanded G-7 meeting. Besides the seven most powerful economies, the so-called BRICS _ Brazil, Russia, India and China and South Africa _ are participating in the meeting attended by their finance ministers and central bankers. The ongoing meeting is dubbed G-12 for the number of countries attending.

G7 is an exclusive group of countries with powerful economies, including the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Treasury said that Treasury Secretary John Snow and Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan invited the five emerging market economies to the G7 annual meeting slated for Friday.

The G7’s move to expand its membership without South Korea comes as a big disappointment to Korean policymakers as they are seeking to make the nation a member of the Group of 10 (G10) by 2010.

In a business forum in July, Finance-Economy Minister Han Duck-soo said that the government will speed up economic reform to improve Korea’s chances of joining the G10 by 2010.

``The government aims to transform Korea into an advanced trading nation by strengthening national competitiveness and joining the G10 as small but strong nations in Europe have done,’’ he said.

Currently, the G7 is leading the global economy, but the G7 is on its way to becoming the G11 or G12 with India and China, to reflect the changing global economy.

For several years now Russia has been invited to participate in certain meetings of the G7. At the latest meeting, which took place in July in Great Britain, the leaders of Brazil, Mexico, China, India and South Africa were also present.

Market analysts said that G7 needs to be expanded to at least 11 nations, including China, India, Russia and Brazil, noting that a wider grouping should facilitate greater policy coordination to correct worrying economic imbalances that now threaten world economic stability.

Institute of International Finance managing director Charles Dallara said in his recent letter to the International Monetary Fund that a new forum is needed that reflects the realities of today’s globalized world and the rising importance of emerging markets.

``Some of the policy measures that are now so important are politically difficult if taken independent of actions by others in support of common goals,’’ the institute said.

``Joint actions are therefore needed, and establishing a G11 with an active role for the IMF, provides the viable way forward,’’ it added.

kjk@koreatimes.co.kr