President Lee Jae Myung called for bold structural reforms to restore South Korea's potential growth rate, which he characterized as the nation's most urgent challenge.

Lee told aides during a meeting at the presidential office in Seoul's Yongsan District on Thursday that South Korea's potential growth rate has dropped one percent with each change of administration and is close to entering negative territory.

Emphasizing the government's duty to reverse the trend, the president proposed lifting potential growth through structural reform in regulation, finance, the public sector, the national pension, education and labor.

Lee said the reform will bring distress and resistance but that the nation will have to overcome such difficulties because now, with signs of economic recovery evident, is the right time.

The president then pledged thorough and speedy preparation to ensure that next year marks the start of a significant transformation for South Korea.