LEAD) Lee calls for improved Korea-U.S. ties in meeting with Korean residents

((ATTN: UPDATES with meeting between Lee and South Korean workers at U.N. in paras 4-5)
NEW YORK, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Monday
urged Korean residents here to help strengthen the alliance between Korea and the
United States, saying they must work as a bridge to connect the two countries.

"President Lee expressed hope the Korean residents here will work as a bridge
that will help strengthen the mutual trust and understanding between Korea and
the U.S.," the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said of a meeting between Lee
and a group of 13 representatives of Korean communities in New York and its
surrounding areas.
Lee's call came shortly after he said the countries must transform their military
alliance -- forged over half a century ago -- into a future-oriented relationship
in an earlier speech at a luncheon meeting sponsored by the Council on Foreign
Relations.
The president also urged efforts to improve his country's relationship with the
rest of the world, vowing increased contribution to the United Nations in a
meeting with a group of some 20 South Korean workers employed by the world body.
"President Lee praised the young South Koreans working at the U.N. secretariat
for their contributions to the international community and asked them to continue
working hard as proud Koreans," Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release.
The South Korean leader arrived here Sunday on a six-day trip that will also take
him to Pittsburgh later in the week for the G-20 economic summit. He is set to
attend a U.N. summit on climate change Tuesday before offering a keynote speech
at the U.N. general assembly the following day.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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