President says to prepare for worst

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak Thursday told the country to
prepare for the worst in global economic conditions and called for "preemptive"
measures to help the country contend with what he has repeatedly called an
unprecedented economic recession.
The remarks came one day after the International Monetary Fund lowered its global
economic growth forecast by nearly two notches from 2.2 percent to 0.5 percent.
"Doubts about unstable economic conditions will continue to spread, so we must
not dwell on numbers, but set up thorough measures in advance to counter worse
conditions to come," the president was quoted as saying at a meeting of a
specially appointed presidential economic committee.
It was the fourth weekly meeting of the Emergency Economy Management Committee
that was set up early this month to guide the country out of the looming
recession.
Lee noted earlier that the recession, if it hits Korea, would be the severest
ever, despite the fact that the country nearly went bankrupt during the 1997
Asian financial crisis.
To overcome such conditions and keep jobs from disappearing, Lee suggested in
earlier statements that both workers and employers make concessions to cut wages
and create jobs.
The president Thursday ordered the government to actively take part in a four-way
commission jointly proposed by the country's largest labor and business groups,
the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korea Employers Federation,
according to presidential office Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Lee Dong-kwan.
"President Lee also noted public firms and financial institutes must play a
leading role in job-sharing," the spokesman told reporters.
Seoul lost 12,000 jobs in December, marking the first contraction in the job
market since October 2003.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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