Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- South Korean President-elect Lee Myung Bak said he'll exercise patience when dealing with North Korea's nuclear weapons program and will implement changes to attract more foreign investment when he takes office next month.

``Our cardinal effort will be placed on the complete resolution of the North Korean nuclear problem,'' Lee told reporters from the foreign media at a briefing held in Seoul today. ``Although the dismantlement process is currently being delayed, we remain patient and mindful of the need to proceed carefully.''

North Korea missed a deadline to provide a list of all its nuclear programs by Dec. 31 in exchange for fuel aid and normalized relations with the U.S., as agreed in negotiations with South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.

Lee said on Jan. 14 he is ``prepared to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at any time'' and that the meeting should take place in South Korea.

Lee has pledged to continue humanitarian aid and expand economic cooperation projects in North Korea, to help revitalize its economy, provided that the communist nation abandons its nuclear weapons program as promised.

He also pledged to create a ``friendlier business environment'' for international investors. Lee aims to achieve economic expansion of about 6 percent in 2008, by encouraging domestic and overseas companies to invest more and increase hiring. His growth target is higher than forecasts made by the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Korea, which both have cited risks from rising oil prices and the U.S. slowdown.

Deregulation, Labor Issues

``I will significantly improve Korea's investment climate for foreign firms,'' Lee said. ``To those enterprises that are already present in the Korean market: I will do all I can to build a more favorable business environment -- an environment that is commensurate with global standards. Two crucial preconditions must be fulfilled in order to achieve this goal: across-the-board deregulation and a more stable labor-management relationship.''

He said he intends to address the concerns of the international investors, such as deregulation and labor flexibility.

``I intend to meet with the leaders of major labor groups in the near future, and try to convince them that the economy is in a dire situation, that they should do all they can to improve productivity,'' Lee said. ``When I mean deregulation, I don't mean deregulation that will benefit for the chaebol (family-run conglomerates), I mean deregulation of rules that are unnecessary. So this is no favoritism for chaebol.''

U.S. Free Trade

Lee, the country's first president from a corporate background, reiterated his pledge to help ratify a free-trade agreement with the U.S. by trying to convince dissenting lawmakers in his party.

South Korea, Asia's fourth-biggest economy, and the U.S. in June signed a free-trade agreement that is estimated to add $29 billion to the countries' $78 billion-a-year commercial relationship. The trade accord, the biggest for the U.S. since the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, hasn't been ratified by either country's legislature.

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

Last Updated: January 17, 2008 00:30 EST