S. Korean president calls for institutionalization of G-20 summit

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Sunday pushed
for the G-20 to take permanent leadership of the global economy, as the ongoing
global financial crisis and other challenges required the involvement of a larger
number of countries.
The South Korean leader was set to depart for the United States later in the day
to attend the third G-20 summit slated for Friday in Pittsburgh. He will attend a
U.N. summit on climate change in New York before heading to the G-20 gathering.
"As seen in the coordinated response to the current crisis through the G-20, the
positive effects of globally coordinated policy responses far outweigh unilateral
actions by individual countries combined," Lee said in an article contributed to
the G-8 Research Center of Canada's University of Toronto.
The G-20 summit, consisting of 20 advanced and developing economies, took on an
expanded role in the wake of the global economic debacle that started last year,
replacing the leadership of the Group of Eight (G-8) advanced economies.
"The G-20 summit process has already shown its usefulness in effectively dealing
with major global issues for speedier globally concerted actions," President Lee
said.
"Furthermore, I would like to re-emphasize the fact that what made the current
global financial and economic crisis different from the Great Depression in its
severity and duration is definitely the globally concerted policy endeavors
mounted, especially on the part of the G-20," Lee said.
"It is my sincere hope that the G-20 leaders in Pittsburgh will agree on the
fourth G-20 summit where a full discussion on post-crisis global economic
management and sustainable and balanced global growth models can take place," he
added.
South Korea is hoping to host the fourth G-20 summit early next year when it will
assume the chairmanship of the forum.
"At the fourth G-20 summit, the leaders should seriously consider the
institutionalization of the G-20 process as a means to strengthen global
governance," Lee said.
The risks of a premature withdrawal of global efforts to fight the ongoing crisis
also demand continued leadership of the G-20, the South Korean leader said.
"I hope that the G-20 leaders recognize the need to properly prepare exit
strategies for future implementation in a timely manner when the global recovery
takes a firm hold," he said.
"The global community should be more wary about the possibility of falling back
into a double-dip recession as a consequence of the premature withdrawal of
rather effective policy measures taken so far," Lee added.
The president noted his country was showing signs, though fragile, of an early
recovery, but said it was taking very cautious steps because "there are still
substantial downside risks in the global economy."
bdk@yna.co.kr
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