YONHAP NEWS

(LEAD) Lee vows to improve ties with N. Korea, speed up job creation

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak said Monday he will make it his priority this year to reinvigorate the economy and "open a new chapter" in tumultuous inter-Korean relations.

Lee also said that his government will take the G-20 summit slated for November in Seoul to step up "global diplomacy" reaching out to Africa, in particular.

"The top national policy agenda of the Lee Myung-bak government in 2010 is to revive the economy and its core is to create jobs," Lee, formerly a business CEO, said in a 20-minute speech broadcast live across the country.

   He said his administration will make all-out efforts to put an end to the emergency economic posture within the first half of this year and make low-income people feel the effects of economic recovery in the latter half.

   South Korea, a leading Asian economy, is regaining confidence as it emerges from the worldwide financial crisis ahead of many other nations. The country's trade surplus hit a record high of US$41 billion in 2009 thanks to a drastic cut in imports. After more than a year of expansionary fiscal policy, South Korean officials are reviewing the appropriate time to begin a so-called "exit strategy."

   Lee, who took office in early 2008 on a pledge to get tougher on North Korea, said, "We need to open a new chapter in South-North Korean ties this year."
He urged the North to return to six-way talks on its nuclear program and expressed hope that the denuclearization of North Korea will make significant progress, putting inter-Korean relations on the path for full-fledged cooperation and helping greatly improve North Korean people's living standards.

   "To that end, first of all, an organization for standing dialogue between South and North Korea should be established," he said but stopped short of elaborating on the level of talks. "I expect North Korea to open its heart with sincerity and walk on the path of dialogue and cooperation."

   Lee added Seoul will push for a joint project with Pyongyang via dialogue to excavate the remains of South Korean soldiers who perished during the 1950-53 Korean War.
Expectations are running high over another inter-Korean summit sometime this year amid signs of an impending resumption of the six-way nuclear talks.

   In its own New Year's message, North Korea stressed the need to warm ties with South Korea, saying that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the first inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang.

   "Unshakable is our stand that we will improve the north-south relations and open the way for national reunification," the North's main newspapers said in a joint editorial issued Jan. 1. The Chosun Sinbo, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan, also reported that the editorial portends a "dramatic event" this year, alluding to the much-anticipated summit.

   On diplomacy, the South Korean leader said he will seek closer relations with China and Japan as well as accelerate his "New Asia diplomacy" to improve ties with other Asian neighbors.

   "This year, specially, (the government) will bolster Africa diplomacy," he said. Lee is expected to tour a few African countries later this year.

   But he skipped comments on the sensitive domestic issue of how to develop Sejong City in the center of the nation. The administration of the late President Roh Moo-hyun decided to relocate several ministries and other government agencies into the town some 160 kilometers south of Seoul, but Lee is seeking to revise his predecessor's plan.

   "As the government is scheduled to announce a revised plan on Jan. 11, President Lee did not touch on the issue," a presidential secretary said.

   Lee's approval rating has rebounded to close to 50 percent, apparently boosted by his pragmatism-oriented policy and diplomatic achievements, recent opinion polls showed.

   Meanwhile, Lee presided over a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day and plans to hold a New Year's meeting in the afternoon with a group of about 300 leading figures, including the prime minister, the National Assembly speaker, the heads of the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, and the National Election Commission, as well as business leaders and Chung Mong-joon, head of the ruling Grand National Party.

   Chung Sye-kyun, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, has been invited to attend the meeting, but he is likely to reject the offer, party sources said.

   The president will then chair the meeting of senior presidential secretaries to review pending national issues.

   lcd@yna.co.kr
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