S. Korean president warns of imminent slowdown in real economy

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said on Thursday
that troubles in the country's financial markets could soon be felt in the daily
lives of ordinary citizens, and ordered thorough and "preemptive" measures to
insulate the real economy.
"It is highly possible that the real economy could begin to stagnate full-scale
from now on, so we need to take more thorough and preemptive countermeasures,"
the president was quoted as saying by his spokesman, Lee Dong-kwan.
The remarks were made in the first meeting of the Emergency Economy Management
Council, which was set up under a government effort to stabilize the
crisis-stricken economy.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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