The President said at the 55th emergency economic meeting on Apr. 15 that Korea is taking center stage by winning the bid to host the two major international conferences - the G-20 Summit and the Nuclear Security Summit. He added that all the credit goes to the people of the Republic of Korea.

The President presided over the emergency meeting only a few hours after wrapping up his tight schedule from his trip to Washington, D.C., from Apr. 11 to 14 for the first Nuclear Security Summit. At the D.C. summit, U.S. President Obama nominated Korea as the venue for the next nuclear summit and it was confirmed by the unanimous support from the participating 47 leaders of countries and three heads of the international organizations - the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Union.

Meanwhile, as to the domestic economic situation, the President drew attention to the fact that the government should continuously pursue overall deregulation in industries, and enterprises should seek low costs of production and better labor relations - all for enhanced productivity.

The President emphasized that the recent price hike of raw materials is beyond governmental control and that the government and the business sector should together overcome the challenges through close collaboration.

He added that 190,000 new jobs had been created in the private sector in the month of April so far and that this would help rejuvenate the livelihood of ordinary people.