Lee reconfirms commitment to sweeping deregulation By Yoo Cheong-mo

SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak said Tuesday his government is strongly committed to getting rid of all unnecessary regulations to help improve South Korea's business environment for foreign investors.

Meeting with visiting former prime ministers of Australia, Finland and Ireland at
the presidential office, Lee said he will pay particular attention to addressing
problems in the local labor sector as part of the campaign to facilitate foreign
investments here.
"The ongoing U.S.-originated financial crisis will pose a challenge to us.
Nevertheless, the Korean government will keep trying to remove unnecessary
regulations," said Lee in the meeting with John Howard of Australia, Esko Aho of
Finland and Bertie Ahern of Ireland.
"My government will make intensive efforts to resolve the nation's labor problems
so that foreign investors won't have difficulties in investing in Korea. I wish
that you global leaders will share your excellent experiences with us," said the
president.
The three former prime ministers are in Seoul to attend a private knowledge
economy forum.
Howard said at the meeting that the global financial turmoil will soon come to an
end, noting market rises and falls are a natural phenomenon in the capitalist
economic structure. The former Australian leader then forecast that the U.S. will
likely recover from the turmoil faster than Europe because it has fewer
regulations and a more flexible labor market.
Ahern consented to Lee's deregulation policy, saying that the liberalization of
the financial market will serve as a prime locomotive for fresh economic growth.
Aho said Finland has drastically improved the efficiency of its banking sector
after undergoing painful restructuring in the wake of a U.S.-style financial
crisis in the early 1990s.
ycm@yna.co.kr
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