Lee calls for greater efforts to develop untapped resources around world

President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday South Korea should accelerate its efforts to develop untapped resources around the world on its own to provide its economy with a cushion against sharp fluctuations in prices and exchange rates.
"Securing resources is a war, and therefore the government is making a lot of efforts behind the scenes," Lee said at a regular economic policy meeting, according to presidential spokesman Park Jung-ha. "Securing resources is important for the nation's future development, and a resource-scarce nation like ours should make greater efforts."
South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, is the world's fifth-largest crude oil consumer, but the country relies on imports for all of its oil needs, leaving its economy very vulnerable to fluctuations in prices of oil and other raw materials.
Lee has tried to boost South Korea's stakes in overseas resources development projects as a way of securing stable sources of energy. During the president's visit to the United Arab Emirates in March, South Korea clinched its largest-ever oil field development deal, potentially valued at 110 trillion won (US$98 billion), with the Middle Eastern nation.
"A key to resources development is to get into places where nobody goes," Lee said.
By next year, Lee said, South Korea is expected to get as much as one-fifth of its energy needs from its overseas development projects. That will make the country's economy more resistant against price and exchange rate fluctuations, he said.
Lee also said that the government should study ways to groom resources development experts.