Finance minister says it's time to help innovation-led growth bear fruit

South Korea's chief economic policymaker said Monday that more efforts should be placed on economic reform to help innovation-led growth policies bear fruit.

In a meeting with businessmen, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said it's time to seek measures so the incumbent Moon Jae-in administration's economic policy goals such as income-led growth can make headway.

"We have had much debate on those issues, but it's time to allow the policies to produce some results," the senior official said.

Kim is expected to step down shortly following a Cabinet reshuffle last month. Hong Nam-ki, who has been tapped to succeed him, is scheduled to appear before a parliamentary hearing.

The Moon government's key economic policies, meanwhile, have come under fire from detractors.

Earlier, the government announced a road map with four key principles -- income-led growth, a job-creating economy, a fair economy and innovative growth -- while it came up with a tax code revision involving a hike of both income and corporate taxes for well-off individuals and businesses.

Among others, Moon's iconic income-led growth is drawing much flak as the wealth gap between the haves and have-nots has actually reached its highest level in a decade.

The minister then said deregulation efforts will continue going forward with a focus to be placed on labor reform as well.

"We have done much for the labor market's stability ... and we need to put its flexibility on the table as well," Kim said. (Yonhap)