Good morning, fellow Koreans,

As you all know well, North Korea launched a rocket yesterday morning. Before I left for London to attend the G20 Meeting, I called for a meeting of the National Security Council and, as soon as I got back, I presided over a series of security-related meetings to check on our situation.

US President Barack Obama remarked that though he is aware that North Korea wants a direct bilateral channel with the United States, North Korea will not be able to drive a wedge between the United States and the Republic of Korea.

He went on to unveil his firm resolve that he would work together with the United Nations to deal with any rocket launches by the North, which would be a violation of UN Security Council Resolution. Both Japan and China said that they would continue to, until the last minute, persuade North Korea to cancel the launch.

Fellow Koreans,

The entire world had striven to dissuade the North from firing the rocket, but its authorities eventually perpetrated the reckless act posing threats to regional and international security. It can never be justified.

The Korean Government is committed to responding to any provocation by the North in a stern and composed manner. I hope the people will continue to trust the Government.

Meanwhile, I am happy to report that the G-20 Summit in London produced truly historic achievements. Developed and emerging economies sat together to reach an agreement to deal with the current crisis.

I have subsequently become convinced that the global economy will make a turnaround earlier than projected as long as the leaders of G-20 nations keep their promises and live up to their agreements.

As a matter of fact, the gathering this time was faced with some critical moments in reaching an agreement since opinions of the participants were sharply divided.  This difficult situation notwithstanding, I asserted that as the leaders of the world, we had to help all peoples across the globe find a ray of hope by speaking with one voice.

Still, the discrepancy of opinions was not narrowed down, thus making it difficult to come to an agreement. Then, I underscored once again it was the responsibility of participating leaders to give hope to those who are working very hard even in the face of poverty and to those who are suffering from unemployment.

I stressed that a failure to reach an agreement because we were arguing over details of the provisions of the statement rather than providing hope would only add to the suffering around the world.

After heated discussions on every word and provision of the joint communique, we finally came to an agreement on historic action plans for the whole world and the future of humankind.

In the process of collecting opposing opinions, the faces of the participating leaders were not that bright. However, we arrived at a more concrete, substantive agreement than that of the first meeting last year. When the agreement was finally reached, the leaders broke out in a spontaneous applause.

My fellow citizens,

As you are well aware, Korea played a significant role as a member of G-20 Troika that chairs the G-20 over a three-year period together with Brazil and the United Kingdom.

We dispatched special envoys to other countries to determine topics for the upcoming discussions in advance.

At the First G-20 Summit, Korea proposed a set of measures aimed at holding back protectionist moves, and they were reflected in the statement. At the second summit, our delegation argued that all protectionist measures that had been taken since the Washington financial summit had to be rolled back. This proposal has also been reflected in the joint communique, and it was touted as one of the exemplary achievements of this summit.

At the same time, I tried my best in speaking on behalf of the nations that are undergoing relatively more difficulties than others. I was happy to see the G-20 authorize the IMF and World Bank to secure US$1.1 trillion for the purpose of shoring up the economy of emerging and developing countries as well as supporting their trade financing and infrastructure construction. This is an agreement that exceeded everyone’s expectation.

I also had bilateral summits with the leaders of the United States, China, Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia. Particularly, at the Korea-U.S. summit, the two Governments gave a high evaluation to the accomplishments of the long-enduring bilateral alliance and decided to further strengthen and develop it into a future-oriented institution.

I had had telephone conversations with President Barack Obama on two occasions before I met him in person for the first time in London. I felt comfortable talking with him, as if I were talking to an old friend of mine.

The two of us reaffirmed our common belief that the sometimes-controversial Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement would benefit both countries and enhance the ROK-U.S. alliance in particular. President Obama expressed a strong determination to advance the FTA toward ratification.

Fellow Koreans,

Through the G-20 meeting, I was able to confirm that the status of Korea is rising in the international community.

Those countries that did not care about Korea up until several years ago have begun to notice our experience and achievements. Now, they seriously want to listen to what we have to say. The international community is paying keen attention to Korea’s economic crisis response measures like job sharing. Currently, the expression “job sharing” is an important catchphrase worldwide.

Depending on what and how we do it, we can play a crucial role in the international arena. In fact, the Republic is already being hailed as an important player.

Even as we face challenging times both on a national security level and on an economic level, I believe there is no order too tall for us Koreans to overcome. We must keep our hopes alive.

Thank you very much.

*Related Contents : President emphasizes economic recovery amid security threat