President Lee Myung-bak on Wednesday called for business conglomerates to make more efforts to help the government achieve balanced growth and address growing income inequality.

Lee made the remark during a dinner meeting with the heads of family-owned conglomerates, or chaebol, marking the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Federation of Korean Industries, a powerful lobby for chaebol.

"Although market economy and democracy are the government's adamant principles, I think the market should evolve," Lee said.

Speaking on wealth divide, Lee said, "If we do nothing about it, the gap could widen. Unless we overcome it, we will face threats in protecting democracy and market economy."

Lee also called on FKI to think about the future roles of conglomerates so as to win the trust and affection of the people.

South Korea's economy, Asia's fourth largest, was credited with recovering fast from the global financial meltdown in 2008. But surveys showed that people were disgruntled because they thought the recovery was not balanced and most profits went to big companies.

The export-dependent economy is grappling with high household debts and a growth imbalance between large and small- and medium-sized companies. (Yonhap News)