President Lee Myung-bak has told his Cabinet to come up with measures to stabilize prices for agricultural products ahead of Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving next month.

In a Cabinet meeting Monday morning, Lee expressed concerns about the heat wave and torrential rains that have hit Korea in recent weeks, and asked related ministries to closely monitor consumer prices.

Stressing that the global economic turmoil could persist longer than expected, the president also called on businesses to cooperate, as they did during the 2008 crisis, to prevent unexpected layoffs and a slowdown in recruitment.