President Lee Myung-bak and the U.S. President Barack Obama had a telephone conversation on the early morning of Tuesday (Feb. 3) and exchanged their ideas on pending issues, including North Korea''s nuclear problems and global recession.

President Obama made a phone call to President Lee and said that solving North Korea''s nuclear problem through the six-party talks is important. The U.S. President said he realized that the Korean Peninsula''s denuclearization could be antedated through close collaboration among the six parties. Obama added that the Korean government''s insight into the North Korean nuclear situation had been very helpful.

President Lee said in response that he appreciated the new U.S. administration''s determination to work on the North Korean nuclear issues.

As to the global financial crisis, Obama emphasized that countries worldwide should abstain from returning to protectionism. Lee in the same voice said the world should remember the first economic depression, and stressed that protectionism will slow down global economic recovery.

The two presidents expressed hope that the London G20 summit to be held in April would be helpful for the global efforts to combat the current economic crisis.

They also shared their thoughts and views on the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton''s visit to Korea in mid-February, the Korea-U.S. alliance and other important issues.