President hears from local gov`t heads on market conditions

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak heard from local government
heads on Friday to get an on-the-ground look at market conditions, one day after
he stressed the need to take "proactive" measures to overcome the economic
crisis.
"At the meeting, Lee emphasized the need for central and lower-level local
governments to pool their resources to overcome the economic crisis," the
presidential office said in a statement.
The meeting, attended by some 230 mayors and county and municipal ward heads, is
held regularly but usually briefly over lunch.
"Unlike previous meetings that were held only as a luncheon event, today's
meeting included for the first time a discussion session as President Lee said he
will talk to the mayors and heads of county and district offices to have them
personally explain our economic conditions and ask for their efforts to overcome
the economic crisis," the statement said.
A day earlier, the president urged officials to devise measures that will
precisely and preemptively rectify poor economic practices that may affect the
real economy.
"It is highly possible that the real economy could begin to stagnate on a
full-scale from now on, so we need to take more thorough and preemptive
countermeasures," Lee was quoted as saying Thursday in an emergency economic
council meeting.
The government intends to spend 60 percent of its annual budget in the first six
months of 2009 to bolster the nation's economy. Lee has stressed that central as
well as regional and district governments must coordinate their spending to
prevent overlap.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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