Lee to promise job increases in his first radio address

By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak will deliver his first
U.S.-style radio address on Monday, vowing to focus his policy efforts on
increasing new jobs and overcoming the financial market crisis, the presidential
office Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday.
In the address that will last about eight minutes and 30 seconds, Lee will urge
the nation to react calmly to the global financial turmoil before stressing that
South Korea armed with foreign currency reserves worth US$240 billion will not be
left vulnerable to a foreign exchange crisis, said Cheong Wa Dae.
"Lee will stress that the mutual confidence between the government and the public
is the most important factor in overcoming the current financial turmoil," Cheong
Wa Dae said in a press release.
"He will then propose that private enterprises, financial institutions,
politicians and all other parties faithfully play their own roles in the face of
the financial market upheavals."
Cheong Wa Dae said the president's first radio address will begin at 7:15 a.m.
Monday and its prerecorded tape will be sent in advance to all local radio
stations wishing to broadcast the speech.
"President Lee will continue to deliver his radio address in the future, but it
has yet to be determined whether the speech will be a weekly occurrence," said
the statement.
The U.S. president's weekly radio address dates back to the Great Depression of
the 1930s, when then President Franklin Roosevelt went on air to appeal for
public support for his New Deal policies.
"The government's major policies and visions have not been properly conveyed to
the public, giving rise to public misunderstanding in many cases. The president
will seek direct contact with the people through the radio address to better
promote his key policies and ask for their support," said a ranking Cheong Wa Dae
official.