President Lee Myung-bak returned from the visit to Russia this morning. Upon arriving at Cheong Wa Dae at 10:20, the President asked Chief of Staff Chung Chung-kil, “How is the economic situation?” President Lee started off taking care of the nation’s economy by being briefed on pending issues that emerged in his absence, including the recent developments of domestic financial market.

President Lee attended a macroeconomic policy consultation meeting from noon. The luncheon meeting was attended by Minister of Strategy and Finance Kang Man-soo, Chairman of the Financial Service Commission Jun Kwang-woo and Governor of the Bank of Korea Lee Seong-tae. They briefed the President on the latest financial and economic trends, including foreign currency liquidity. The participants engaged in in-depth discussions on ways to secure the liquidity of foreign currency and provide support for state-run banks in an effort to address the problems of cash-strapped small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). They also had an intensive discussion on how to support SMEs, including an increase in credit guarantees provided by the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT) and the Kibo Technology Fund (Kibo).

At the gathering, President Lee complimented those involved, saying, “In the face of an emergency situation, organizations concerned responded swiftly and appropriately, thus minimizing fluctuations in the financial market.” The President went on to say, “Given the ongoing volatility of the international financial market, it is urgently needed to curb the spread of domestic market instability by releasing sufficient foreign currency holdings. It is also necessary to closely monitor the movements of the financial market and foreign currency liquidity in order to deal with any changes in the market with agility.”

The President said, “It is particularly important to make sure that no profitable small and medium-sized companies go bankrupt because of temporary financial difficulties.” He also warned against the tendency for civil servants to make overseas trips in droves toward the end of the year. He said that non-urgent foreign trips should be held to a minimum to save foreign exchange.

Also on hand at today’s meeting were the Senior Secretary to the President for Economic Policy, Senior Secretary to the President for State Affairs Planning and the Cheong Wa Dae Spokesperson.