经济方面，韩国经济在2009年上半年跌入低谷，下半年开始出现明显好转；政治方面，前总统卢武铉自杀引发了国民对现政府的不满，李明博政府为了实现社会团结，用“中道实用主义”代替了“保守实用主义”，执政党强行通过了一系列重要法律；社会方面，面对经济危机，工会、资方、政府和市民社会决定“分担痛苦”；外交方面，韩国积极倡导经济合作，巩固韩美同盟，在重视大国外交的基础上提出了“新亚洲外交”的构想。朝鲜的核试验等行为使朝韩关系一度变得非常紧张，但从2009年8月份开始出现了转机。在对朝政策上，李明博提出了“大妥协”方案。
Korea economy hit the trough in the first half of 2009，and began to grow quickly in the second half of the year. The suicide of the former president Roh Moo-hyun caused the Korea people’s anger towards the current Government of Lee Myung-bak. The Governement pursued centrist pragmatism and social integration，a departure from the conservatism and pragmatism it originally upheld. The ruling Party forced the issue of several important laws. Facing the economic crisis，the labor unions，employers，government and NGO reached an agreement of sharing pains. In diplomacy，the Government promoted economic cooperation，enhanced the Korea-US alliance，and introduced the concept of “New Asian Diplomacy” at the time of paying important attention to big countries. The intra-Korean relations became very intense because of North Korean nuclear tests and began to improve after August. The Government formulated the plan of “Grand Bargain” to solve the North Korean nuclear issue.
