Anchor: President Lee Jae Myung, who visited New York this week to attend the United Nations General Assembly, held the Korea Investment Summit on Wall Street, pledging to eliminate the so-called “Korea discount” and turn it into a “Korea premium,” while reassuring investors that South Korea has both the economic and military strength to manage risks on the Korean Peninsula.
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: 
[Sounds from New York Stock Exchange in New York]

President Lee Jae Myung rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, on the last day of his trip to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

Inviting global investors to the Korea Investment Summit on Wall Street, Lee pledged to address the inconveniences foreign investors currently experience when trading South Korean shares.

Lee vowed to turn the so-called "Korea discount," or the tendency of South Korean shares to trade at lower valuations than their peers overseas, into a "Korea premium."

[soundbite: President Lee Jae Myung (KOR-ENG)]
"It is clear that the Korean stock market is undervalued. Its PBR (price-to-book ratio) and PER (price-to-earnings ratio) are far lower than those of even underdeveloped countries."

The president said his administration will strictly respond to stock manipulation and rationalize corporate decision-making structures through the third round of revisions to the Commercial Act.

The South Korean leader also promised to address geopolitical risks stemming from North Korea.

Lee said Pyongyang's intercontinental ballistic missiles program appears to have entered its final phase and said Seoul will push for the suspension of the regime's nuclear development and exports, eventually ending with denuclearization.

[soundbite: President Lee Jae Myung (KOR-ENG)]
"Wouldn’t there be considerable security benefits just by halting North Korea’s production of nuclear warheads or the development and export of ICBMs? That is why I have proposed stopping them in the short term, reducing them in the midterm and pursuing denuclearization in the long term."

The president said South Korea's military power, even excluding the presence of U.S. Forces in Korea, ranks fifth in the world and that the administration plans to drastically increase its defense spending.

Wrapping up his trip, Lee departed from John F. Kennedy International Airport at 3:40 p.m. Thursday, local time, and is scheduled to return home Friday night, Korea Standard Time.
Choi You Sun, KBS WORLD Radio news.