The President expressed his hopes that North Korea will follow China''s economic model to achieve prosperity and peace in order to prepare for eventual reunification at an interview with reporters from the Financial Times (FT), a leading United Kingdom daily newspaper, which was published on October 29.

The interview took place at Cheong Wa Dae on Oct. 28, before the president flew to Vietnam for ASEAN+3 Summit and East Asia Summit meetings.

"I would really like Chairman Kim to see a lot more of China, the China of today, witnessing with his own eyes the result of what can happen to a country’s prosperity when you open up to the world," the President told the FT’s Christian Oliver and David Pilling.

"North Korea could not really survive sweeping reforms of that kind. China was able to successfully keep the economic and political spheres separate, but North Korea is much more fragile," the President said.  He also urged the North to "emulate China’s economic model," according to the FT interview.

The President is having an interview with the Financial Times on Oct. 28 at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul

The President also spoke on the issue of the G20, saying he is optimistic that they can forge firmer guidelines to limit trade imbalances.

The President also said that recent Bank of Korea consideration of restrictions to cool short term investment flow should not be seen as "capital controls" but rather as "macro-prudential policies" as part of international cooperation.

He also spoke briefly about currency issues and China, mentioning that he felt China understood the need to "take part in ensuring sustainable and balanced growth," and that a broader debate about the issue was needed to ensure Chinese support for currency reform.