Q&A from Davos with business and political leaders by CNN reporter Richard Quest Richard Quest, host: South Korea's president has called for a coordinated response to the financial crisis. Speaking here in Davos, President Lee Myung-Bak says the G20 must redouble its efforts. It's the first time the president of South Korea has spoken at the forum. It won't be the last time we hear from him, though. He is chairing the G20 summit in Seoul in November, as president of – or in the chair of the G20 process. I spoke to Mr. Lee and I began by asking him about his G20 priorities. Lee Myung-Bak, South Korean President (through translator): Yes, the most important priority for me as chair of the G20 will be, of course, to lay the foundation so that we can ensure sustainable, continued and balanced growth of the global economy. Quest: That contained – that sustained and balanced growth within the 20, at the moment, is very unbalanced. Myung-Bak: Yes, as you know, sir, in Pittsburgh, the leaders agreed on this phrase, balanced growth. And what this means is – we must work towards rebalancing the global economy. I know this is not going to be easy, but this is something that we must resolve. And that is why, during the G20 summit to be held this year, all the leaders will have to really work together and coordinate their response so that we can ensure sustained and balanced growth. And, also, another important aspect is to rebalance the gap or to close the gap between the advanced and those emerging economies that are not part of the G20. Quest: Is there a danger that the different demands of countries mean that there can't be that spirit of – there can be a spirit of cooperation, but it is not a successful spirit. Myung-Bak: The G20 has been recognized in the Pittsburgh summit as the premier forum to discuss international economic matters and, also, other global issues as well. I understand that individual countries will have their respective needs and policy priorities. But in order for each individual nation to achieve its policy objectives international cooperation is going to be vital. Quest: Let's talk about South Korea's necessity for sustained, balanced growth. And in that regard, the economy – your economy requires strong growth in other developed and emerging markets. What can you do to foster that growth further? Myung-Bak: That's right. For the Republic of Korea's economy to continue to prosper, it is very vital for the global economy to perform well. Fortunately, the global economy's outlook and forecast for this year is about 3.5 percent positive growth. So I think that's good news for all countries around the world. As for Korea, we must diversify our export markets. And we will tap into these new markets, such as (those) in South America, in Africa and in other places. And (by) barring any new calamities or shocks this year in 2010, I believe the Korean economy will do quite well, because another point is that we are continuously increasing our R&D investments into developing new engines of growth. Quest: On the geopolitical and North Korea questions, Mr. President, where does this go from here? One can ask you 1,001 different questions about when talks might start. But at the end of the day, what happens next? Myung-Bak: Yes, in the past, what we tried to do in – on the Korean Peninsula was to take a, what we call a step-by-step approach in trying to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons program. But my administration has already made a proposal to North Korea, what we call the Grand Bargain. This entails North Korea to fully give up all of its nuclear weapons programs and in return, we will see what we can provide for them, see what they need and then take it from there. And so now is the time for North Korea to make that decisive, strategic decision whether they're going to give up their nuclear weapons program or not. Quest: Do you have any reason today to believe that the Grand Bargain is any closer to being accepted by the North? Myung-Bak: Well, as you know, the six-party talks consist of six countries and in the five countries – excluding North Korea – there is a common understanding that this is the right way to go forward. If North Korea does make that strategic decision to give up all their nuclear weapons program, I think there's a lot for them to benefit from it and I think North Korea will be very interested in how we can move this forward. So once we've resumed the six- party talks, we are ready to discuss this issue. www.cnn.com/davos __
