South Korean President Lee Myung-bakon on Thursday warned of the worst situation in global economic conditions, calling for "preemptive" measures to help the country withstand the unprecedented economic recession.

"Doubts about unstable economic conditions will continue to spread, so we must not dwell on numbers, but set up thorough measures in advance to counter worse conditions to come," the president was quoted as saying by his spokesman at the fourth weekly meeting of the Emergency Economy Management Committee.

Lee noted earlier that the recession hitting South Korea would be the severest ever, urging firms to cut wages and create jobs to overcome the worsening conditions.

The president's remarks came a day after the International Monetary Fund lowered its global economic growth forecast for 2009 from 2.2 percent to 0.5 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2009)