South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has appealed to the members of the G-20 economic forum to resolve disputes over foreign exchange rates before his country opens a summit next month.
"I think the issue of exchange rates can be discussed at the Seoul summit in the course of assessing macroeconomic policy submitted by each nation," Lee said in a meeting with foreign journalists here.
His first group meeting with them since taking office in early 2008 was aimed at publicising Seoul's plan to host the summit of leaders from the world's 20 advanced and emerging nations from November 11-12.
Lee admitted to loosening policy coordination among the member states amid the nascent recovery of the global economy and warned of the possibility of another crisis.
"If the world fails to reach an agreement on the current issue and others and each country insists on its own interest during the recovery phase, it will lead to trade protectionism, which will make the world economy very difficult," he said, according to a transcript of his comments released by his office, Cheong Wa Dae.
The president, however, did not name a specific nation. China is under growing pressure from the United States and European nations to let its currency, the yuan, appreciate faster to reduce trade imbalances.
Beijing officials, however, claim that a rapid adjustment in the value of the yuan will make the Chinese economy unstable and eventually hurt the world's economy.
For its part, the Japanese government is also actively intervening in the foreign exchange market. Media dub the phenomenon a "global currency war."
Lee said the G-20 nations "should reach agreements on several pending issues including the exchange rate issue" before the Seoul summit.
