The controversial policy direction toward achieving a fairer market has come under the spotlight again , as President Park Geun - hye referenced “ economic democratization ” during her inaugural speech Monday . The term of economic democratization , aimed at weeding out unfair practices of big enterprises , was not included in the list of five major policy goals unveiled by the Park government last week . While opposition parties and civic groups criticized Park for omitting her campaign pledge from the list , Park again highlighted the term at the inaugural ceremony . Park stressed that the economic development pursued by the new administration would be achieved “ by rooting out a variety of unfair practices and rectifying the misguided habits of the past which have frustrated small business owners and small and mid - sized enterprises . ” Economic revitalization will be propelled by a creative economy and “ economic democratization , ” she said . Despite her pledge to exercise strict antitrust rules , there are skeptical views in the market over the new government ’ s authenticity as to whether Park will take the initiative in revamping the conglomerate sector by taking epoch - making actions . While liberal candidates had pledged to overhaul the family - owned ownership structure of major conglomerates such as Samsung Group and Hyundai Motor Group , Park from the ruling Saenuri Party prioritizes tough application of the competition laws rather than big player - reform itself . During the early stages of the presidential race , Park was an instigator of the economic democratization wave despite the term ’ s ambiguity and complexity , vowing to lean more liberal . However , several weeks before the Dec . 19 presidential election , she excluded a drastic action plan ― blocking conglomerates ’ business units from holding a certain portion of shares of their affiliates under cross deals ― from her pledges . Though the Park government said it would restrict further cross deals in the conglomerate sector , the current shareholding structure is not the target of sanction . Park ’ s decision drew wide interest as the scrapped plan to penalize the circular shareholding structure had been suggested by her key economic policy adviser Kim Chong - in . Her economic democratization measures feature fostering growth of small and mid - sized enterprises and restraining the monopolistic position of large family - owned businesses . She also underscored that big business groups ’ positive roles in fueling growth and creating jobs must be maximized . She has pledged to remove discrimination between regular and irregular workers , limit conglomerates ’ advances into areas better fit for smaller businesses , and curb large retailers ’ abuse of power against smaller suppliers . Meanwhile , her inaugural speech also featured prioritization of science technology and information technology . “ I will raise our science and technology to world - class levels . And a creative economy will be brought to fruition by applying the results of such endeavors across the board , ” said the President . She noted that the new administration ’ s Ministry of Future Planning and Science would be tasked to lead the emergence of a creative economy in tandem with this new paradigm . By Kim Yon - se ( kys @ heraldcorp . com ) [ Hot News ] ◆ Park takes helm ◆ Economic democratization overshadows inauguration ◆ Welfare , public safety focus of Park ’ s agenda ◆ Where have we seen it before ? ◆ British teen dies in fall from ski lift