President Lee Myung-bak has vowed to firmly deal with what he calls provocative actions by North Korea.

In a weekly radio speech on Monday, Lee denounced the North for pushing ahead with the rocket launch while South Korea was planting trees on Arbor Day on Sunday.

Lee said that during his summit talks with U.S. President Barack Obama in London last week, he and Obama agreed to counter the North’s rocket launch by taking the issue to the U.N. Security Council.

Lee stressed that the North’s recent action to launch a rocket despite international calls against it was a reckless and unjustifiable move which threatens global and regional security.

Lee said last week’s G-20 financial summit was significant in that both advanced and emerging economies reached various agreements on ways of overcoming the global financial crisis.

In particular, Lee noted that the parties involved agreed to secure more than one trillion dollars to promote trade and finance.

Lee vowed to overcome financial troubles despite security threats, saying that the world is closely watching how South Korea tackles its financial woes.