President Lee says economic difficulties worsening 'day by day'

SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak said Saturday global economic conditions being faced by South Korea are worsening "day by day" but the country will eventually be able to overcome the crisis.

South Korea's economy, Asia's fourth-largest, is widely expected to fall into its
first recession in 11 years this year, as exports, the main growth driver, are
faltering, with domestic demand remaining sluggish.
"Recently, difficulties for the local economy as well as the global economy are
worsening day by day," Lee said in a video message aired on a local television
network with an appeal for firmer pan-national efforts to create jobs.
"There is no way for our export-dependent economy to avoid the impact" from the
global economic downturn, Lee said, urging people to work with the government to
overcome the crisis.
"If we work together and join force, we will become one of the first economies
that recover from the economic crisis" he said.
South Korea's exports plunged a record 33 percent in January from a year earlier.
Hit hardest were many of its main export items, including semiconductors, cars
and ships.
Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun has predicted the economy would shrink by 2
percent this year, while the International Monetary Fund forecast a 4-percent
contraction and the Swiss brokerage firm Credit Suisse as much as 7 percent.
In the final quarter of 2008, the Korean economy contracted 3.4 percent from the
same period a year ago, the Bank of Korea said.
Last year, the Korean conomy expanded just 2.5 percent, compared with 5.1 percent
growth in 2007.
The government is pushing stimulus packages of about 140 trillion won (US$92.9
billion), including tax cuts, to prop up the economy.
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