By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Prime Minister Han Seung-soo Friday stressed the need to cooperate with the international community to overcome the current financial crisis.
Han asked Strategy and Finance Minister Kang Man-soo and Bank of Korea Governor Lee Seong-tae to spearhead efforts to seek closer international financial cooperation when they attend the annual World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting scheduled to open Saturday in Washington, D.C.
Kang and Lee will attend the Group of Twenty (G-20) meeting on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank meeting, officials said. This year's meeting is expected to focus on reorganizing the post-financial crisis world order, they said.
The G20 was established in 1999 and is made up of finance ministers and central bank governors from member countries, including South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. Seoul is scheduled to chair the meeting in November.
Minister Kang is scheduled to have talks with his Japanese counterpart on the sidelines of the IMF gathering to discuss the creation of an $80 billion joint fund to counter slowdown in the global economy, his aides said.
Kang will also meet with representatives of sovereign rating firms like S&P and Moody's and hold talks with executives of HSBC, JP Morgan and Credit Suisse, while taking part in a press conference highlighting South Korea's general economic health, they said.
During the meeting with top economy policymakers, Prime Minister Han said once the current financial crisis is stabilized, a new international order may be established to enhance the overall health and governance of the world economy.
``There is a need to gauge what the new financial order will look like, so South Korea can be in a good position to meet the changing requirements,'' he said during the meeting.
The prime minister also said that the liquidity crunch that started in the United States has spread to Europe and Asia and has become a crisis of confidence in the financial sector as a whole.
``Since it is a matter of confidence, the government and financial sector need to take positive steps to regain trust,'' said Han.
The premier said foreign media have not accurately reflected the country's economic circumstances, resulting in unfavorable coverage. In order to correct such views, South Korea must inform the world that its economic fundamentals are sound, he said.
Cho Won-dong, head of the government management office, said after the meeting that the policymakers shared the view that South Korea will likely post a trade surplus in October and for the whole of the fourth quarter. They note this should help stabilize fluctuations in the exchange rate that are fueling uncertainty.
``Governor Lee and Knowledge Economy Minister Lee Youn-ho expressed confidence the country will post a trade surplus this month, and that there is little shortage of liquidity in the domestic market,'' Cho said.
He pointed out, however, that due to external volatility affecting the local market all economic policymaking authorities must coordinate to monitor and respond quickly to sudden changes.