남덕우 南悳祐
Economist who served as Minister of Finance, Deputy Prime Minister and 14th Prime Minister of South Korea
| Life | 1924 ~ 2013 |
| Era | 현대 |
| Clan | 의령 남씨 |
Life & career
Nam Deok-u (1924-2013) was an economist and official of Uiryeong born in Gwangju County, Gyeonggi (now Gwangju city) under Japanese rule. He graduated in political science from Kookmin University (1951), took an MA in economics at Seoul National University (1956), and an MA (1960) and PhD (1961) in economics at Oklahoma State University.
He worked at the Bank of Korea in 1952-1954 and taught at Kookmin University (1954-1964) and Sogang University (1964-1969). He then served as Minister of Finance (1969-1974) and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economic Planning Board (1974-1978); Wikipedia describes his tenure as a period when exports reached 10 billion dollars (1977) and per capita GDP reached 1,000 dollars.
After serving as special economic adviser to the president in 1979, he was the 14th Prime Minister from 1980 to 1982. He later led the Korea International Trade Association (1983-1991), the Foundation for Industry-Academia Cooperation (1983-2007) and the East Asia Institute of Economics (1992-2005). When he died on 18 May 2013 the government awarded him the Order of Civil Merit, Mugunghwa Medal. Some dates, including his age at death and tenure dates, differ by a year or a few days between sources.
From Scholar to Official
A scholar who had been a Bank of Korea clerk and professor, he entered government as Minister of Finance in 1969.
As Deputy Prime Minister
He served as Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Economic Planning Board in 1974-1978. The 10 billion dollar export mark and 1,000 dollar per capita GDP of the period are described as the result of many people's work, and assessments of his own share vary.
After the Premiership
After serving as Prime Minister in 1980-1982 he continued in private roles such as head of the Korea International Trade Association, and was awarded the Mugunghwa Medal on his death in 2013.