Lee pledges job increases in his first radio address

(ATTN: UPDATES with reactions in last four paras)
By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak delivered 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.
In the address of eight minutes and 30 seconds, Lee urged the nation to react
calmly to 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.
Lee also noted that the nation's current account is expected to swing back to
black in the fourth quarter, while the financial health of private Korean
companies and financial institutions has remarkably improved over the past
decade.
"Following the outbreak of a financial crisis in 1997, as many as 1.49 million
people lost their jobs and 58,000 companies went bankrupt. Mindful of the bitter
experience, my government will prioritize maximizing new job creation and
minimizing corporate bankruptcies," said Lee.
"Amid the widespread economic uncertainties, most advanced countries are
projecting their economic growth of less than 1 percent next year. The U.S. is
bracing for 0.1 percent growth, while Japan's growth may reach 0.5 percent. Thus,
the outlook for the Korean economy is not encouraging."
The president stressed that the mutual confidence between the government and the
public is the most important factor in overcoming the current financial turmoil
and proposed that private enterprises, financial institutions, politicians and
all other parties faithfully play their own roles in the face of the financial
market upheavals.
"The government will transparently disclose all information regarding financial
markets and economic conditions and take proper countermeasures. We are also
enhancing policy coordination with the world's economic superpowers," said Lee.
He then urged private enterprises to expand investments "to become a winner in
the future."
"Any private companies choosing to increase investment to create more jobs are
the true patriots. Domestic financial institutions are also asked to ensure that
profitable and competitive business entities would not go bankrupt due to
temporary liquidity problems."
Lee's radio address is modeled after the U.S. president's weekly radio address,
which 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, according to officials at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
"President Lee will continue to deliver his radio address in the future. But
unlike the U.S., Lee's address will be a biweekly occurrence," said a Cheong Wa
Dae official.
"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 the official.
Contrary to expectations, however, only public broadcaster KBS aired Lee's
address, while MBC, SBS and other major radio stations did not for unspecified
internal reasons.
"The president's first radio address has symbolic meaning and sufficient news
value, but major radio stations refused to comply. We regard such an attitude as
inappropriate," said another presidential aide.
As expected, rival parties showed conflicting reactions.
The ruling Grand National Party said the president gave hope to the people
fatigued by the protracted financial market unrest. But the main opposition
Democratic Party accused the president of failing to apologize for causing chaos
in the local financial market by pursuing mistaken policies and renewed its call
for the dismissal of Finance Minister Kang Man-soo.