By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
Presidential hopeful Lee Myung-bak of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) Friday promised to cut the corporate tax if elected president.
Lee, 66, a former Seoul mayor, vowed to arrange growth potential by reforming the overall economy and society so as to add 3 percentage points to a predicted 4 percent increase in gross domestic product (GDP).
For his goal of 7 percent growth, he unveiled several economy-related pledges in a speech he delivered at a seminar, titled ``Forum of Korea's Power _ Incheon.''
While a number of economists at home and abroad say the Korean economy has already entered the era of slow growth _ below 5 percent annually _ his remarks are drawing interest.
Among other pledges he also vowed to introduce deregulation in the business and financial sectors. He said the primary condition to make a country friendly for business activities is to perform large-scale deregulation.
As a step, he promised to lower corporate taxes to 20 percent as soon as possible, pointing out that this would be a competitive factor on the global stage.
Lee also said he would push for a redistribution policy via high growth, and the active creation of jobs.
He also vowed to set up measures to prevent foreign investors from conducting hostile takeover bids against Korea's main industries.
Lee's top pledge before voters is to construct a cross-country canal connecting the northern and southern rivers in the country.
Construction of the canal has already become one of his major campaign pledges in the presidential election slated for Dec. 19.
``I'll finish the construction of the large-scale waterway within four years if elected president,'' Lee said. ``We've already thoroughly examined the technical aspects of the plan.''