Lee warns of negative economic growth in 2009

(ADDS presidential spokesman's briefing in last five paras)
By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak said Saturday that the global
financial crisis will reach its peak during the first half of next year, forcing
South Korea to suffer its first negative economic growth in a decade.

"On an annual basis, Korea may attain some economic growth, but may undergo
economic contraction in the first and second quarters," Lee said before receiving
key 2009 policy briefings from the education and culture ministries at the
presidential office.
"Few countries worldwide will attain economic growth between the fourth quarter
of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. The Korean economy will also hit rock
bottom in the first half."
Seoul's finance ministry reported to the president last week that the Korean
economy will grow around 3 percent next year despite the global economic
downturn, though private think tanks at home have steadily warned that the
nation's economic growth will fall below 1 percent.
Earlier this week, Lee said that the economic crisis will take a turn for the
worse next year, and the possibility of an annual economic contraction cannot be
ruled out.
At the joint policy briefing session, the president instructed ministry officials
to take sufficient policy measures to drastically enhance the nation's global
competitiveness in the education, science and culture sectors in preparation for
the post-crisis era.
"The nation's future economic growth depends on the success of the education,
science and culture policies. Failure of these policies will cloud the future of
the nation," said Lee.
"Our educational sector, particularly in the humanities and professional
education, has to be normalized within several years. Changes and reform are
painful ... We have to do our best to overcome the economic difficulties, though
the crisis may last up to three years."
Lee said that the Korean people seem to feel extraordinarily complacent despite
the economic crisis, noting local streets are again crowded with cars as
international oil prices are on the decline.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology's key policy plans
for 2009, which were reported to the president, call for hiring about 50,000
college graduates as part-time teachers and interns at the ministry and
affiliates agencies, forcing nonviable private colleges to close or be merged
into other institutions and spending 841.7 billion won (US$648 million) on the
education of low-income students.
Notably, the ministry plans to recruit about 5,000 native English speakers to
teach in public schools nationwide. In science, the ministry unveiled plans to
reinforce current programs to cultivate young scientists at the state's expense
and establish an international science and technology business belt.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also reported its plan to intensively
restore historical and cultural resources along the nation's four major rivers to
attract more tourists from abroad, create about 18,000 new jobs through various
public art, cultural and sports projects and stimulate the cultural industry
through the establishment of a so-called "Korea idea bank."
Specifically, the ministry vowed to increase tourist arrivals from Japan by 6.3
percent to 2.5 million in 2009, while attracting 1.5 million tourists from China,
up 15.4 percent from this year.
The Lee government recently announced it aims to double the number of inbound
foreign tourists to over 10 million a year by 2012 by developing world-class
sightseeing attractions, such as eco tours to the demilitarized zone separating
South and North Korea.
It also vowed to increase the number of tourists to Seoul's five major ancient
palaces, create large numbers of hands-on traditional arts and culture programs
and diversify sightseeing packages involving the eco-friendly Paektu Daegan
mountain range, swamplands and other ecological projects nationwide.
According to presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan, the president stressed that
civil servants should always carry out state affairs with fundamental changes in
mind, strive to minimize waste of taxpayer money and improve efficiency in budget
expenditure through closer inter-ministerial cooperation.
President Lee also demanded that all relevant ministries join forces to take a
future-oriented approach to the government's river development project, referring
to the government's plan to spend 14 trillion won by 2011 to develop basins of
Korea's four major rivers -- the Han, the Nakdong, the Geum and the Yeongsan.
Through the river development projects, the government aims to create a variety
of resident-friendly facilities, such as bike paths and riverside parks, and
secure a stable supply of freshwater resources.
"The river development projects are intended to prevent flooding and address many
global issues like climate change, water shortages and global warming. All
relevant ministries have to set up a joint task force to improve the efficiency
of the river projects," the president was quoted as saying.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)