Lee Myung-bak

“I will serve the people in a very humble way.”

“For us, from Korea's perspective, China is the number one investment destination as well as number one trading partner.”

“With the lessons taken from the financial crisis in 1997, the Republic of Korea has been able to surmount the global economic crisis rather successfully.”

“The Nuclear Security Summit was President Obama's initiative born out of his vision to leave behind a safer, more prosperous world for the future generation.”

“Fortunately, when Korea was struck by the 1997/8 financial crisis, that was a good opportunity for us to engage in fundamental reforms and strengthen our financial structure. As a result, our financial regulatory structure and regime have been very much strengthened.”

“I think it's safe to say that it's rather premature for anyone to make any initial assessment or analysis of Kim Jong-un, or have an accurate impression on Kim Jong-un.”

“If we are to assume that North Korea becomes a nuclear-power state, of course the danger of having an all-out nuclear war, that possibility is very slim.”

“Well when I was young, actually not just me, but we were all poor. Korea used to be one of the poorest countries in the world. Despite such circumstances, I was very, very fortunate to be blessed with having parents who always instilled in a spirit of can-do spirit.”

“From the Chinese perspective, Korea ranks about third or fourth in terms of trading volume and about third in terms of investment.”

“When the Korean economy was just trying to get back on its feet after the war, having parks was a luxury.”

“Including myself, the majority of the Korean people believe in this staunch alliance between Korea and the United States and all of us hope that our traditional alliance will be further strengthened in the future.”

“Just to take a couple steps back historically, Korea, as you can see, is located among what we call big countries. And historically we've always been the victim of numerous invasions and whatnot.”