South Korea needs detailed action plans in order to improve its economic fundamentals, the finance minister said Wednesday, adding that the next three to four years may be the “last opportunity” to determine the country’s future direction.

“In order for our economy to make a leap forward again, we need to abandon the success equation of the past and make efforts to improve our economic fundamentals in an innovative manner,” Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok told other policymakers in a meeting.

“But the clock is ticking. The next three to four years might be the last opportunity for our economy. We need detailed action plans that lead to actual results people can feel, not stopgap or perfunctory measures lacking action and achievements.”

With that thinking in mind, he said, the government is preparing the three-year economic innovation plan to be unveiled later this month.

Under the plan, which was first mentioned by President Park Geun-hye earlier this year, the government aims to raise the country’s growth potential to 4 percent, hike the overall employment rate to 70 percent and increase the annual per-capita income level to $40,000. (Yonhap)