President Lee Jae-myung and first lady Kim Hye-kyung wave to well-wishers upon arriving aboard Air Force One at Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Ulaanbaatar on Thursday (local time) for a state visit to Mongolia. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae-myung and first lady Kim Hye-kyung wave to well-wishers upon arriving aboard Air Force One at Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Ulaanbaatar on Thursday (local time) for a state visit to Mongolia. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae-myung, on a state visit to Mongolia, said Thursday that the International Monetary Fund had sharply raised its growth forecast for South Korea and pledged to pursue "growth for all."

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Lee said the IMF had revised South Korea's 2026 economic growth forecast up to 2.6 percent — a 0.7 percentage-point increase from the 1.9 percent projected in April and the largest upward revision among the 30 countries covered in the update.

He added that the IMF had simultaneously trimmed its global growth forecast by 0.1 percentage point to 3.0 percent from the April projection.

Lee said the fund also raised its outlook for South Korea's growth next year by 0.4 percentage point to 2.5 percent, the highest among major advanced economies. He attributed the upgrades to strong exports of semiconductors and AI hardware, saying they had lifted the country's growth prospects despite its heavy reliance on Middle Eastern energy imports.

Lee acknowledged, however, that inequality remained a serious concern. "This is certainly good news, but I am well aware that many people have yet to feel it in their daily lives," he said. "I will work harder to make high economic growth a reality and ensure that the fruits of that growth are shared by all — growth for everyone."


moone@heraldcorp.com