April 16 (Bloomberg) -- South Korean President Lee Myung Bak pledged to deregulate and lower corporate taxes to make the Asian nation more ``business friendly'' for U.S. investors.

``Our government is making a lot of deregulations, lowering corporate taxes to make a nation where foreign companies can invest and work easily,'' Lee told a group of corporate and financial chiefs at a luncheon in New York today. ``This is not just lip service -- we're trying to put into effect these new changes by the end of the year.''

Lee, South Korea's first president from a corporate background, won a landslide victory in December largely because of his economic plans. He is banking on non-government investment, including overseas investment, to fund housing loans and a 16 trillion won ($16.4 billion) project to build a ``Great Waterway,'' a network of canals through South Korea and branching up to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

Lee said he hopes his U.S. trip will help attract investment he needs to implement his campaign pledges to expand South Korea's economic growth to 7 percent and double per capita income to $40,000 by 2017. Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded 5 percent in 2007 from a year earlier. Lee's goal for 2008 is about 6 percent.

Non-Binding Agreements

Lee's speech at an investment presentation in New York, organized by the state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, resulted in five non-binding agreements worth a combined $1.18 billion, the presidential office said in a statement.

ProLogis, the world's biggest publicly traded warehouse developer, signed a $1 billion agreement to develop ports and distribution centers in Gyeonggi province and Bucheon outside Seoul, and in Busan, the nation's second-largest city on the southeastern coast of Korea, the office said. Kozar Real Estate Group pledged to invest $140 million in Korea, it said.

Lee, 66, former chief of South Korea's largest contractor, Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co., and former Seoul mayor, held the luncheon with about 25 business leaders, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, Merrill Lynch & Co. Chief Executive Officer John Thain, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Chairman Dick Fuld and Peter Grauer, chairman of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

``I have been a man of action throughout my life knowing that action speaks louder than words,'' Lee told the business leaders. ``Some criticize me as too business-friendly. I disagree. I am prepared to be more business-friendly if it helps revitalize our economy.''

Rang the Bell

Lee, who arrived in New York yesterday for a five-day visit to the U.S., rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, keeping his promise to NYSE Chief Executive Duncan Niederauer, who had jokingly asked in 2006 when Lee rang the bell as Seoul mayor, for a return visit if he were to win the presidential election.

Lee arrived in Washington today. On April 18-19, the last two days of his trip, he will attend a summit with U.S. President George W. Bush at Camp David.

The South Korean president is also trying to woo Congress, which must approve a free-trade agreement that could increase annual commerce by $29 billion, or 35 percent, and try to repair ties with Bush strained under Lee's predecessor, Roh Moo Hyun.

The U.S. is South Korea's second-largest export market behind China, with shipments totaling $45.8 billion in 2007. Imports from the U.S. last year reached $37.2 billion.

To contact the reporter on this story: Heejin Koo in New York at hjkoo@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 16, 2008 23:15 EDT