Lee to deliver New Year's address to nation Monday

President Lee Myung-bak speaks after receiving a policy briefing from the Foreign Ministry at Cheong Wa Dae. (Chung Hee-cho/The Korea Herald)

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will deliver a special New Year's address this week to the nation in a bid to express his intention to strengthen the country's security in the face of North Korea's aggression, his office said Sunday.

In his 20-minute message, scheduled to be broadcast on television, the radio and the Internet at 10 a.m. Monday, Lee will stress his administration's efforts to step up national security in light of the North's March sinking of a warship and Nov. 23 shelling of a South Korean island in Yellow Sea, Lee's spokesman Hong Sang-pyo said.

President Lee will also unveil plans to boost the local economy following the free trade deal with the United States and European Union and measures to improve the social welfare system for underprivileged people, Hong said. (Yonhap News)