By Kang Hyun-kyung Staff Reporter President-elect Lee Myung-bak urged the legislative bodies of Korea and the U.S. to ratify at an early date the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement struck last April. Lee stressed the ratification of the trade accord would take the Korea-U.S. alliance to a new level. He made the remarks in a meeting with 10 members of the New Beginnings group, a policy study group formed by the Korea Society in collaboration with the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. Lee said he would make every effort to strengthen bilateral relations during his five-year presidency. ``Strengthened Seoul-Washington relations will not only help move inter-Korean relations forward, but also take Washington-Pyongyang relations to a higher level,'' he said. Therefore, the incoming President said leaders of Seoul and Washington needed to work closely together to put those relations on the right track. Eleven experts are involved in the New Beginnings project, which was established last year. The members are former White House and State Department officials having dealt with Korean affairs, and academics. Ten were present at the meeting with Lee. They included J.R. Revere, president of the Korea Society; Don Oberdorfer, chairman of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University; Victor Cha; director of Asian studies at Georgetown University; and former U.S. ambassadors to Seoul Stephen W. Bosworth and Thomas C. Hubbard. Washington hailed Lee's victory in December's presidential election as the two sides share a lot in common in their stance on North Korea. Lee said Pyongyang should give up its nuclear programs before Seoul offers economic assistance packages in return for denuclearization. The new President also said he would seek a multilateral solution, which includes the European Union along with the countries participating in the six-party talks, to resolve the nuclear issue. The New Beginnings team said the Korea-U.S. alliance has been tested as U.S. President George W. Bush and Korean President Roh Moo-hyun showed a gap in approaching the North Korean nuclear programs. Given that the two countries are to have new governments this year, the experts said the timing is positive for both nations to seek a new Korea-U.S. alliance. President-elect Lee takes office on Feb. 25, while the U.S. is scheduled to vote in a new president in November. The American experts said they will start their work as soon as the new government is inaugurated in Korea and make policy recommendations to the two administrations. They are scheduled to produce a report next month, based on research and interviews. hkang@koreatimes.co.kr