South Korean president-elect Lee Myung-bak faces the daunting tasks of reinvigorating the economy and keeping the Korean Peninsula peace process going, Chinese observers said yesterday.

Piao Jianyi, a senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the win by Lee, former Hyundai CEO, reflects the people's desire to find a leader who can navigate the economy through the current difficulties.

Lee has said he would run the country like a CEO and promised to work for fast economic growth. But it is a tough battle to keep Asia's fourth largest economy on the right track, Piao said.

Liu Jiangyong, a professor of international relations at Tsinghua University, noted Lee has talked tough on the policy toward Pyongyang.

"But it is clear that the engagement between the North and the South has benefited both sides politically and economically," Liu said.

As tension eases in the peninsula and Washington's ties with Pyongyang improve, Lee will have to tread a cautious line to maintain the momentum in the peace process, he said.

(China Daily December 20, 2007)