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Employees at LG Chem’s domestic battery-producing line in

Models pose with Samsung Electronics’ first tablet PC — the Galaxy

Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) CEO Larry Klane,

Lee shines at G20, but challenges lie ahead

By Na Jeong-ju The G20 fervor and excitement has cooled down. The wired fence that surrounded the Coex in southern Seoul to protect delegations from protesters will be removed and the nearby Samseong subway station, which was closed to the public during the gathering to prevent possible terrorist attacks, is back to normal now. The event marked President Lee Myung-bak’s global debut as a leading voice for emerging and underdeveloped nations, but he had to face harsh reality as well. During the two-day summit, the G20 leaders tried to find a solution to the most vexing problem, the currency dispute between the United States and China that has raised the specter of a global trade war. As the host, President Lee made last-ditch efforts to help iron out differences over the currency issue, but his given role as a mediator was limited. “The G20 is basically a forum of the world’s 20 leading economies, but, in a sense, it is heavily influenced by the countries that have bigger says,” said a South Korean official who helped organize the event, asking not to be named. “

Obama slams China over yuan policy

By Bae Ji-sook, Lee Hyo-won, Lee Tae-hoon U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday that the world is back on the path to recovery and that he and other G20 state leaders will further resolve differences over disputes such as free trade agreements and the so-called currency war. Obama strongly condemned China for its policy of keeping the yuan low against other currencies, while criticizing Korea’s exports of automobiles to the U.S. At a press briefing held Friday after the G20 Seoul Summit, leaders announced the G20 Seoul Summit Leaders’ Declaration, President Obama said the world was in “broad agreement on the way forward.” “We risk slipping back into old imbalances that created the economic crisis in the first place. The 20 major economies gathered here are in broad agreement on the way forward,” he said. “The work that we do here is not going to seem dramatic. It is not always going to be world-changing. But step by step, what we're doing is building stronger international mechanisms and institutions that will help stabilize the world economy and reduce tensions

G20 is not magic bullet but still effective

By Cho Jin-seo The G20 Seoul Summit showed that the Group of 20 will not produce quick fixes for all problems just overnight, but the two-day meeting also proved that it is highly effective, probably more so than any other international frameworks the world has had, if its goals are clear. The final statement’s lack of clear action plans on “global imbalances” and a “currency war” may be disappointing to many, given that anticipations were built up for a possible dramatic compromise. But it should also be noted that the group has been efficient and successful on other important issues such as the tightening of banking regulatory codes, preventing them from being too-big-to-fail, and setting up national firewalls on capital volatility. “The world has no other option,” summarized Sakong Il, the chairman of the Seoul Summit Preparation Committee. “The United Nations represents 192 nations, but it has its own mandate. And we know that the G7 and G8 do not work very well anymore. Only the G20 can make fast and effective decisions on the global economy,” he said after the summit

Foreign, Korean CEOs talk after business summit

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia Top global executives took advantage of the rare opportunity to meet and discuss business opportunities with their Korean counterparts in Seoul, a day after the conclusion of the G20 Business Summit. Some 100 one-on-one meetings between executives from global and Korean companies had been scheduled before and after the two-day summit at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill Hotel. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who had a high-profile role at the business summit, held talks regarding a possible collaboration with Josef Ackermann, chairman of Germany’s largest bank, Deutsche Bank. SK Telecom President Jung Man-won also met with Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of Canadian firm Research in Motion, which makes Blackberry smartphones. Italian energy company Enel CEO Fulvio Conti held talks with Korea Electric Power (KEPCO) President Kim Ssang-su to discuss further cooperation. Yonhap News reported the two officials signed a letter of intent to ``cooperate in developing and exchanging new smart-grid technologies.’’ The G20 Business Summit gathered CEOs and busi

G20 to set imbalance guidelines by 2011

Leaders agree to avert worst of currency war for now By Kim Jae-kyoung Leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) member nations reached a vague compromise Friday on currency and trade issues, calling for a workable resolution for the next G20 summit in France, slated for November next year. In the Seoul Declaration released following the two-day G20 Seoul Summit, the participating heads of state agreed that “indicative guidelines” on current account balances will be initiated and undertaken in due course. The declaration calls for an action plan under which they will call on their framework working group, with technical support from the IMF, to develop numerical guidelines, with the progress to be discussed by finance ministers in the first half of 2011, according to the communique. Although the agreement is seen as progress as they set imbalance guidelines, many still doubt the feasibility of the communique as it is too vague and unbinding with no numerical targets. The U.S., supported by Korea, has called for a numerical limit ― but this move has met a strong backlash fro

Seoul heaves sigh of relief after G20

By Oh Young-jin Three days of summits involving political leaders and CEOs from 20 emerging and leading economies is now over. As is the case with any big global event, the just-ended G20 summits have left many heaving a sigh of relief and others regretting some blown opportunities. Certainly, Seoulites appear to be happy to see the streets back to normal, perhaps feeling a bit proud to have brought the G20 summits to an end without any major disturbances. They have endured a great deal of inconvenience. Big-name CEOs also did their best to have their voices heard in important areas such as new global financial orders as well as green growth initiatives. It remains to be seen how many of their suggestions will be taken up by political leaders, who were busy defending the interests of their respective countries. In a nutshell, the Seoul summit was building up to be a clash of the titans ― the old guard and a new power. The old guard is represented by the United States and European countries, while the new power is China. Despite the smooth language in the commun

Moving toward more market-determined exchange rate systems

1. We, the Leaders of the G20, are united in our conviction that by working together we can secure a more prosperous future for the citizens of all countries. 2. When we first gathered in November 2008 to address the most severe world recession our generation has ever confronted, we pledged to support and stabilize the global economy, and at the same time, to lay the foundation for reform, to ensure the world would never face such upheaval again. 3. Over the past four Summits, we have worked with unprecedented cooperation to break the dramatic fall in the global economy to establish the basis for recovery and renewed growth. 4. The concrete steps we have taken will help ensure we are better prepared to prevent and, if necessary, to withstand future crises. We pledge to continue our coordinated efforts and act together to generate strong, sustainable and balanced growth. 5. We recognize the importance of addressing the concerns of the most vulnerable. To this end, we are determined to put jobs at the heart of the recovery, to provide so